With these things in mind, below are some ideas for addressing the issues. They are strictly ideas and ripe for further development.
Teams that match the budget get a stamp or sticker on their tallier sheet. Additional ideas for a bigger pay-off are being considered.
After playing, the teams adjourn to a classroom where they have a discussion about their choices (perhaps based on the 5 habits of mind, example below). They can write their answers on the tallier sheet.
After playing, the teams compare their results and have a discussion about their choices. (perhaps based on the 5 habits of mind, example below)
I like number 2 the best. I would guide the teacher to make the choice under Core Loop of using 1 through 3 and under Closure 1 through 3. For students at a higher grade level or higher level of thinking they would incorporate 4 and 5. I like limiting it to six items. This gives everyone in the small group an opportunity to choose something but doesn’t let it get out of hand.
Gina Bivins
I want to say first that the whole story/concept of this game is wonderful, and I really appreciate how it came together out of early interviews and exhibit visits. The story-line of newcomers in Grand Rapids' history trying to navigate the city and find supplies to build a livelihood feels very connected to the exhibit and the Museum and some of what we do already in the education department. As was pointed out in your notes after the last playtest, it seemed like the version we played last week lost a bit of that feel because the gameplay did not guide
I have attached a google doc showing social studies curriculum connections for grades 3-6 (really the target here at GRPM) that were relevant to the exhibit and different options you've listed for gameplay revisions/lessons.
Things I like:
Things I want to improve:
Things I want to talk through:
Out of the game design options you've listed, I do not agree with Gina. As the coordinator of our K-12 efforts, I do not think that version as a lesson on inflation would be most helpful to teachers . As you can see in the curriculum document I've attached, students in this target range do not have any standards introducing inflation. The standards overall lean much more towards Michigan history, migration/immigration, goods/services, how cost impacts business owner/consumer decisions, using map tools, understanding human/economic features of a place. I would still like to work to keep it as a game, but I feel if we went the lesson route, option 3 has potential to build into a good experience.
Question... Do the 'wrong' items need to be completely unrelated to the clue and very low or high cost in order to make the deciphering of the clue more impactful? This may also thwart players who would skip getting clues and just run around and find object willy-nilly. The downside to this idea is that the correct items ma y be so obvious that it makes it too easy to win the game.
The game can be played 4 times in an hour.