In March 2018, our team successfully completed a commission by All Children Reading: A Grand Challenge for Development Partners — the United States Agency for International Development, World Vision, and the Australian Government; the UK Government’s Department for International Development; and the International Development Research Centre, Canada.

We had collaborated with them on the publication of a Guide to developing digital games for early grade literacy for developing countries.

This guide is intended to assist game developers, literacy experts, and the staff of agencies interested in funding the development of digital games for early grade literacy learning. It is not a manual that provides step-by-step instructions. Neither is it an academic document. Rather, this guide presents information to be considered when designing games for literacy learning. It uses game examples that demonstrate how game developers and literacy educators have worked together. These examples were selected following a review of approximately 70 literacy learning games, including 50 games designed specifically for early grade students in developing countries submitted to the EduApp4Syria and the Global Learning XPRIZE competitions.

The guide has eight sections. Chapters address early grade reading design considerations, learning design considerations, design considerations for games and learning, design considerations for game development, and areas for research and development. Following those are case studies of digital games for literacy learning and lists of supplemental resources on literacy learning and game development.

Game designs can be placed on a spectrum of open-endedness. Open-endedness is the extent to which a game gives players freedom to express themselves creatively (e.g. by drawing or making music in the game, or modifying the game environment). Developers who are making games for groups of children may want to consider a more open-ended design approach. Open-ended designs that allow children to learn socially by sharing and discussing in-game creations with peers and teachers, on the one hand, and give teachers room to customize game activities for their own lesson needs, on the other hand, have been found to result in powerful learning experiences in school settings.

Creating an open-ended game can be a daunting task. Designing a game that offers players a finite set of options while moving linearly from level to level is far easier than creating a game environment and gameplay that enables exploration and customization. Research into designing open-ended learning activities for games and virtual worlds suggests several learning design approaches that developers may use to inform their design and development process (Lim, 2009).