Game Design
I spent an entire semester playing, designing and building games both board and online. For anyone interested in trying game design with their students, I have compiled my references and resources here.
Videos
- various videos from the Extra Credits channel on YouTube
- What is a Game?
- A Case for Board Games
- Gamer
- Game Design
- So You Want to be a Game Designer
- Going Cardboard (documentary) can be purchased through YouTube or itunes for about $7.00 or from Amazon on DVD
Board Games
Since I had never attempted teaching game design, I used games that I could find quickly, easily and cheaply. The Goodwill and Salvation Army became some of my favorite places. I did buy the German strategy games after Thanksgiving on sale for the holidays and after the holidays on special.True strategy games are not inexpensive so look for deals or borrow from the serious players.
- Mass Market
- Wizard of Oz trivia
- The Big Bang Theory Fact or Fiction
- Win, Lose or Draw
- CSI: The Board Game
- Twilight: The Movie board game
- Ameritrash
- Life
- Parcheesi
- Rack-O
- Line Up
- Upwards
- German or Eurostyle
- Settlers of Catan
- Ticket to Ride
- Dominion (card game)
- Pandemic
- Forbidden Island (card game)
- Carcassonne
Printable Board Game Resources
My documents
Board Game Contests
Rubrics
Teaching Ideas
- Game Design for Grade School
- Game and Learn: An Introduction to Educational Gaming
- Institute of Play
- Kathy Mercury (MS teacher)
- MIT Step
- BoardGame Geek: Student Board Game Designs
Virtual Worlds and Simulations
Game Design & Building Tools
- Gamestar Mechanic (this is the tool we ended up using)
- free account
- free teaching lessons & resources
- paid educator account with added features
- Google: Blockly
- Gravity Ether
- Tynker
- Scratch
- Unity (free download)
- Unreal Engine (free download)
Final Projects
- strategy game
- rules
- decorative box
- board or cards
- promotional sheet
- holiday themed video game with 3 difficulty levels