The field of game design for educational content lacks a
focus on methodologies that merge gameplay and learning. Existing
methodologies typically fall short in three ways: they neglect the
unfolding of gameplay through players’ actions over a short period
of time as a significant unit of analysis; they lack a common
consideration of game and learning mechanics; and they falsely
separate the acts of playing and learning. This paper recommends the
gameplay loop methodology as a valuable tool for educational game
design, as it addresses these major shortcomings. Furthermore, this
paper outlines how this methodology can be supported by knowledge
from subject‑specific didactics—considering both the curriculum and
its mediation (contributed by experts from educational practice) as
well as methods of player‑centered design—in order to ensure the
appropriateness of learning objectives and techniques of mediation
in the context of a particular field of knowledge, the game’s appeal
to its target group, and the effectiveness of the learning
mechanics. A case study of the design and production phases of
Antura and the Letters, a literacy game for Arabic refugee children,
illustrates the uses of the gameplay loop methodology situated in
the described broader approach to educational game design. Finally,
this paper explains the results of an impact study revealing that
the approach indeed provides the opportunity to merge playing and
learning.
Les colloques, conférences et autres journées d'étude sur le serious game se multiplient plus vite que les pains, et les appels d'offres internationaux, nationaux ou locaux semblent être une idée politique porteuse. Celui du ministère de l'Industrie dit « appel serious game de Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet », lancé il y a deux ans, a été un des jalons de cette évolution. Dans ce domaine, la France suit, avec retard, les grands projets américains, canadiens, anglais, allemands, etc. Ce réveil procède sans doute de trois facteurs. Le serious game fournit un alibi pour traiter de l'impact du jeu vidéo comme élément essentiel, mais politiquement peu correct, de notre culture : « Ne dites pas à ma mère que je suis game designer, je forme les médecins, pompiers, informaticiens… de demain ». C'est un moyen, pour les professionnels du jeu, de trouver un financement plus régulier que les contrats et éventuels retours sur ventes des éditeurs de jeu. Enfin, c'est le graal de tout enseignant, symbolisé par cette affiche où l'on voit un adolescent, « accro » à sa manette, avec pour
The development of digital games over physical distance is a common practice in the gaming industry, yet widely neglected in the curricula of digital game development programs at university level. The coronavirus pandemic, however, pushed project-oriented game programs all over the world towards an implementation of ad hoc approaches to remote development in their project-based courses. The present article demonstrates practice-based research examining such a course and its 30 third-year undergraduate students of game arts, game design, and game programming, who remotely collaborated in interdisciplinary groups of two to five persons over the course of half a semester during Germany’s logdown in spring 2020. Applying a mixed-method approach including quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey data (n=22) and qualitative content analyses of students’ postmortem documentations (n=30), this exploratory study reconstructed the online practices, experiences, and learning processes of these students between their professional routines and psychosocial challenges. The results of this study can be used in curriculum development to inform the advancement of courses focused on the development of prototypes over physical distance, which may not only be relevant for the field of games education, but also for related creative and project-oriented fields of higher education, such as design, digital media, and software engineering.
Abstract. Game designers empirically use psychological and sociological player's model to create the gameplay of their video games. These models are generally implicit and always informal. A formal analysis of the player's model leads to define efficient player behavior profile. It can have numerous applications, for instance adaptation of the content to the player's ability and interest. Our work tries to find a rational way to assess Players Styles, concept suggested by Bartle [1] in 1996. The first step, state of the art of the player model, shows already some interesting criteria that can be used to classify player's styles.
The development of digital games over physical distance is a common practice in the gaming industry, yet widely neglected in the curricula of digital game development programs at university level. The coronavirus pandemic, however, pushed project-oriented game programs all over the world towards an implementation of ad hoc approaches to remote development in their project-based courses. The present article demonstrates practice-based research examining such a course and its 30 third-year undergraduate students of game arts, game design, and game programming, who remotely collaborated in interdisciplinary groups of two to five persons over the course of half a semester during Germany’s logdown in spring 2020. Applying a mixed-method approach including quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey data (n=22) and qualitative content analyses of students’ postmortem documentations (n=30), this exploratory study reconstructed the online practices, experiences, and learning processes of these students between their professional routines and psychosocial challenges. The results of this study can be used in curriculum development to inform the advancement of courses focused on the development of prototypes over physical distance, which may not only be relevant for the field of games education, but also for related creative and project-oriented fields of higher education, such as design, digital media, and software engineering.
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