To understand a game, we can begin by looking at the parts of a game and with this knowledge, you can begin to design your own unique game. The following is an excerpt from the Institute of Play’s Design Pack: Games and Learning

Goal

What does the player or team have to do to win?
To win the player must …

Challenge

What obstacles might you put in the player’s way to make reaching the goal fun and interesting?

Core Mechanics

What core actions or moves does the player do to power the play of the game?
jumping, running, solving clues, searching …

Components

What parts make up the materials of play?

Rules

What relationships define what a player can and cannot do in a game?

Space

Where does the game take place and how does the space affect the game?

E.g. A 3D world created by Kodu Game Lab, a basketball court

Once we understand what parts make up a game, we are ready to follow a design process leading to the creation of our game.

Immerse

Once you know the context (this may be related to curriculum or the current learning in the classroom) for your game, immerse yourself in the subject matter – make sure you understand and can define the context for your game.

Ideate

Brainstorm game ideas. Make sure you have identified the audience for your game. Test out your ideas with class mates, then discard ideas you don’t want and re-frame others until you come up with the final idea for your game.

Prototype

Design and develop one or more protoypes for your game. During this stage, you may want to use MacICT’s Core Loop template to assist you with designing your game.

Core Loop template

• Don’t forget to come up with a cool name for your game – be creative!
• Craft a compelling, engaging backstory for your game. Use some of the narrative structures such as suspense, foreshadowing and conflict.
• There are a range of game genres, what kind of game is yours? You may choose to draw on one or more game genres to create your game.
• How can you make your game intuitive to play?
• Have you created choices/decision for your players to make?

Playtest

Throughout the design process, it is a good idea to find a friend or classmate to playtest your game. You may wish to use MacICT’s designer scoreboard to provide constructive feedback to the designer.

Game Designer Scoreboard

When playtesting, it is also good to apply a ‘fun test‘ Ask your play tester to answer the following questions:

1. What is fun about this game?
2. Does the game get boring – at what point?
3. How can this game be more fun?
4. How could we make it more intuitive?

Iterate

Now that you have collected feedback on your game, refine you game and make it even more fun to play!