Success Criteria

• I can identity the core mechanic is the main action of the game: the one that occurs most frequently.

• I can describe the physical properties of components give rise to certain actions (mechanics).

1. Introduction/Warm up (5 mins): Take out a few objects, like a ball and a paperclip. Either do a fishbowl, a teacher demo, or pass them out to students. Explore what each object can do. Ask students:

• What kinds of actions can they give rise to? For example, play with a ball - what are all the things you can do with it? Throw it, bounce it, roll it - what else? What can a ball do that a paperclip cannot?

2. Debrief and Review the definition of Core Mechanics (5 mins): Remind students that the core mechanics are the actions or moves that the player does during gameplay. They should think of them as the verbs you use to talk about your game. A game can consist of many mechanics. The core mechanic is the main action of the game: the one that occurs most frequently. A game’s

Dig deeper into the connection between components and actions in a game. Ask studentst o think about two different sports you might play, for example, hockey and soccer. What are the actions in those games? What are the objects in those games? How would soccer be different if you used a hockey stick?

• For homework, have students pick 5 objects - any 5 will do, but here are some ideas:rubber bands, paperclips, cotton balls, index cards, a straw. List each object and come up with at least 5 different things you can make each object do. Tell them don’t be afraid to bend them and move them around! Share out what is the most interesting thing they foundat the next lesson.

3. Introduce the Struggle (e.g. the need to modify Tic Tac Toe) (5 min): Tell the class that they will now play a version of Tic Tac Toe for ALL THREE players in the group. The only change they canmake is that instead of 2 players assigned “X” and “O,” players will now be assigned “X,” “O,”and “∆.” After a few minutes of play, check in with each group to see how it is going.

• What works and doesn’t work with this new RULE of three players?

• How does it affect the CHALLENGE of the game?

4. Mini-Design Challenge (10 min): Explain to students that by introducing a third player but not making any other changes to the game breaks the game. Once we added a new rule of adding a third player, it threw the rest of Tic Tac Toe off-balance. As a result, they must fix the broken game with a design challenge. In teams of 3, students will mod the game to accommodate a third player AND make sure the game stays fun and challenging! They should think specifically how they can mod the SPACE, RULES, or CHALLENGE to make it more fun for 3 players.

Students will go through the following steps together:

• Brainstorm ways to make the game more fun.

• Prototype and Test their ideas together by trying them out as a group as they design.

• Iterate by making changes based on testing the game.

• Reflect and Share: Be prepared to share out what you created and have another group potentially play the game.

Before sending the students off in groups, inform students that when they work in groups they will each have a different role. If using the role cards, pass them out to groups and either let them self assign roles or assign them yourself. The roles are:

• Play Provoker: This student’s job is to provoke the group to jump in and test ideas.

• Fun Critic: T his student’s job is to monitor the fun levels of what they are creating.

• Includer: This student’s job is to make sure everyone’s voice is being heard.

• Playtest Facilitator: When the group is ready to playtest, this student’s job is to make sure the play testers know how to play the game and how to give feedback.

5. Challenge Reflection (10 min): Come back together to share out. Ask questions to debrief the experience:

• What did you change?

• What did you notice about the process you went through?

• What did you notice about the process of modding and how the game was affected by changing the RULES, SPACE, and/or CHALLENGE?

6. Return to the design process visual and reiterate the steps that they went through. Ask them questions about the design process as needed.

TEKS 4A    (4) Creativity and innovation--emerging technologies.

(A) evaluate how changes in technology throughout history have impacted various areas of study;

Success Criteria

I can design a game from scratch

I know  the parts of a game and how they work together

I can give and receive constructive feedback to improve my game design

I know the importance of testing my game as part of the design process

4. Prototype and Iteration (20 mins): Have students prototype their game together, and start to test it out as they design it. Remind students about the importance of testing early and often! They can make changes to their designs as they test it out. Make sure they play it as a group together before they move on to external play testing next.

5. Playtesting (25 mins): Now that students have prototyped their games and playtested within their groups, they’re ready to have another team play their game and provide feedback.

A. Model Playtesting: Ask for one team to volunteer to test their game with the whole class. Have one student from the team present their game and ask for volunteers to play the game. Provide this playtest feedback matrix as a guide to help students provide constructive feedback. Model asking the following questions:

+ What is a Glow, or one thing you liked about the game?

+ What is a Grow, or an area of improvement for the game?

+ What questions do you have?

+ What ideas do you have to help us improve the game?

B. Playtest: Pair the remaining teams up, dividing up the team that already playtested into each small group. Explain that each group will have 1 minute to explain their game, and then 5 minutes for the other group to play their game and give them feedback using the form as a guide.