The Game Design Process

My approach to teaching Scratch game design is informed by industry game development practices, and it is constantly evolving over time in response to students' feedback, skill levels, and my own ongoing professional learning about Scratch visual programming.

The framework below is a guide only, and it is easily adaptable for a range of students' ages and skill levels.

Pre-Planning

Questions to consider:


  • What is your purpose?
    • To introduce students to Scratch visual programming and the game design process?
    • To have students create a game to teach a concept in a subject or learning area?
    • For students new to Scratch, I would strongly recommend starting with storytelling or simple maze games, before seeking to integrate game development into other curriculum areas.


  • What computer science concepts or visual programming skills are you planning to teach and assess?
    • For example, at an elementary level I focus on the use of repetition (loops) and IF/THEN conditional statements.


  • Students' access to Scratch
    • Are you working in a lab or 1:1 environment?
    • Will students access Scratch offline or online through their browser?
    • Do students need Scratch online accounts?
    • Do I need to create a Scratch Educator Account - see https://scratch.mit.edu/educators/. (Note: student Scratch accounts are not yet transferable to other classes).


Step 1: Creating a Game Design Document

  • Identify Success Criteria
    • What does a good game look like?
    • What kind of game do students want to create? Story, Choose Your Own Adventure, Platform/Arcade, Maze?
    • What common features do you find in games? For example, levels, scoring, traps/obstacles, instructions, etc.


  • Students to plan their game using a game design document, considering the following prompts:
    • Purpose / Objective
    • Storyline
    • Characters
    • Game Mechanics (Scoring, deaths, levels, rewards)
    • User Interface (buttons, splash screens)


  • The game design document may include storyboards, flowcharts, mind maps, sketches, and user instructions. I have discovered that it is better to work through this process on paper, rather than using an online document.


You can download an adapt a copy of my current game design template here.

  • It was heavily adapted from a template I found online; however, I have lost the original source. If you are the original author, please contact me via Twitter.

Planning a game to educate children about the importance of brushing their teeth

Scratch Game Design - Erin
Scratch Planning Document.pdf
Scratch Game Design Template 2017


Step 2: Building the Game

Students will need time (often several weeks) to build and code their prototype Scratch games. Encouraging peer tutoring, the use of YouTube tutorials, and Scratch community tutorials will help students experiment with adding more complex features (e.g. levels, buttons, scoring) into their games.


Step 3: Playtest & Iteration

  • Students need to share their games with their target audience, seeking constructive feedback from their peers
    • Are the user interface and instructions easy to follow?
    • Is the game fun and challenging to play?
    • Are there bugs or areas for improvement?
    • Does the game work well with a physical game controller, eg. a MakeyMakey?


Step 4: Publish & Pitch

The final step is a very important one, as students really appreciate the opportunity to share their creations with an authentic audience beyond their school walls. When publishing projects online through the Scratch community, remember to encourage students to include user instructions, and give credit for their use of other Scratchers' ideas. In the past, we published students' work under a school account; however, this year, my students are sharing their projects under non-identifying usernames based on their initials.

Please click on the images below to explore some of my students' 2017 projects.

The students created this game to teach others the names of colours in the Indonesian language.

A two player racing game created by a Grade 5 student, with multiple levels, buttons, and arrow key/WASD controls.

"Adventure" features the fluent use of coordinate position, custom code, operators, variables, and IF/THEN branching. Created by an experienced Grade 6 student

Moo Moo, a complex platform game featuring the gravity motion effect in Scratch - which affects how the character responds to arrow key input. Created by a very enthusiastic Year 6 student with some prior Scratch experience.

Created by one of my most experienced Grade 6 students, this is an apparently simple character customisation game with many levels of detail and options in response to user input (buttons and text input).

The "Impossible Ultimate Maze Deluxe" is an excellent name for this project, which includes the advanced use of variables, IF/THEN conditionals, sensing, and operator blocks. Created by an advanced Grade 6 student.

Scratch Studios - Ongoing Projects

If you'd like to see more of my students' projects, I am building a 2017 Scratch Game Design Studio at https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/3968975/. Projects range in quality from an upper primary/elementary A to C standard according to our Western Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum.

Choose Your Own Adventure Stories - Grade 5


Assessment and Evaluation

In 2017, I am trialling various approaches to assessing my students' game design projects, and their demonstration of visual programming skills. I am currently using a combination of student self-evaluation questions, interviews, and a checklist of age-appropriate Scratch skills to inform my assessments.

I am not yet in a position to give a definitive answer to how to best assess student's Scratch projects; however, I must stress that if a student uses particular Scratch skills (e.g. variables, operators or IF/THEN conditionals), they must be able to explain their use either verbally, or by including written comments in their code. I have found many beginner Scratchers copy tutorials and remix other Scratchers' projects, often without understanding the underlying computer science concepts or skills.

The following are example rubrics and assessment tools which you may find useful in developing your own assessment tools.

Student Self Evaluation / Reflection Questions

  • How did the project turn out compared to your original design idea?
  • Describe how you built your project a little a time. How did this help you?
  • What difficulties or problems did you encounter? How did you find and solve them?
Teacher_Reflection_Tool.pdf
STEM Video Game Rubric.pdf