Assessment

The charts below provide two ways to look at assessment: 1) assessing the game design process and 2) assessing a game itself.

Here we provide criteria for an effective design process, and criteria for good games. We also provide methods to help you assess your students, or have your students assess themselves. These methods are drawn from features in Gamestar Mechanic and from offline activities.

Assessing the Game Design Process

	What makes an effective Design Process	Methods to assess the Design Process
Preparing/Brainstorming	Understanding the elements of game design (explained in the Gamestar Mechanic quests) Focusing on an inspiration Deciding on the kind of game and who it’s for Understanding design constraints (provided by a teacher, or by a design challenge)	Students can brainstorm by keeping notes and ideas in a design journal Premium teacher accounts have the ability to track student progress in the GSM Quests - learn more -
Designing	Relate the game design to the design constraints Meaningful selection of specific components and sprites	Writing in a design journal or discussing choices students made about specific components in their game. Why did they choose the avatar, background, mechanic, or music? What do their design choices mean for the player?
Feedback/Playtesting	Provide constructive, meaningful feedback after playing each other’s games Considering each other’s feedback	Using playtester feedback worksheets (attached to many of the lessons) to assess the quality of feedback
Iterating	Redesign the game drawing from the feedback given Continue to focus on design goals and design constraints Continue the playtest-iterate cycle	Using the reflection question worksheets (attached to many of the lessons) to assess how students take feedback into account Looking at changes made in the game to assess if students understand the process of iterating

Assessing a Game

Five Elements of Game Design:	What makes a Good Game	Methods to assess a Game	Common Mistakes
Space	Unique Makes the player think of strategies Works well with the game mechanics	Look at Game Alley reviews: visual reviews	Confusing space: The game space is so crowded or confusing that the player cannot think of strategies to navigate through it
Rules	Define and guide the player’s experience Fit well with the space and the sprites used	Look at the rules in the game label Have students describe why they chose these rules	Unnecessary rules: a very high time limit for an easy game Unbalanced rules: very low avatar life in a game full of enemies and obstacles
Goals	Clearly presented in the game label Fit the overall design of the game	Look at the goals in the game label Have students describe why they chose these goals	Too many goals in an already challenging game: collect all points, blast all enemies, and survive for a certain amount of time in a game where completing so many goals is confusing and difficult
Mechanics	Work in unison with the space and sprites used Are unique within the space	Look at Game Alley reviews: gameplay reviews	Mechanics do not fit the space: a maze space with difficult jumping mechanics, where only navigation mechanics would be appropriate
Components	Fit with the core mechanics and game concept	Have students describe why they chose to use certain components and how the components alter gameplay	Miscellaneous components: keys that don’t lead to locks, or providing timer bonuses when the game has no time limit

More Factors in Game Design	What makes a Good Game (continued)	Methods to assess a Game	Common Mistakes
Balance of Challenge and Fun	The game makes you want to keep playing until you win The game isn’t tedious or frustrating	Premium accounts can check the game stats to show how many players try and complete each level - learn more - Game Alley: ratings of fun and difficulty, reviews and comments	Designing a frustrating or boring play experience
Game Label	Helps you understand what the game is about Intriguing	Read the game label without playing the game and then try to predict what makes up the game. A good game label will give an accurate idea about the game	Using the default text provided without personalizing it
Storyline (if applicable)	Unique Fits with the elements of game design	Look at Game Alley: story reviews	A storyline that starts off strong, but never concludes or veers off
Congruent Levels (if applicable)	Logical connections between levels in terms of story and challenge	Have students explain the level progression in terms of common themes, difficulty, or storyline	Levels that do not seem to have a common theme – they feel like they come from different games

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