UNIT 5 Games and social media to promote intergenerational learning. Module 3 Tools to invent games. Advanced Training Course

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1 Module 3 Tools to invent games Advanced Training Course Adults Learning for Intergenerational Creative Experiences This training course is delivered in the context of LLP Project GRUNDTVIG-ALICE Grant Agreement number : / Project Number: LLP IT-GRUNDTVIG-GMP University Ca Foscari of Venice - Technical University of Crete - Romanian Society for Lifelong Learning SEED The Mosaic Art and Sound - Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodi UNIT 5 Games and social media to promote intergenerational learning

2 Unit 5 Games and social media to promote intergenerational learning Module 3: Tools to invent games Nektarios Moumoutzis Marios Christoulakis Laboratory of Distributed Multimedia Information Systems and Applications Training Coordination University Ca Foscari of Venice Cover graphic design Name of Responsible (SEED) This publication is produced with the financial support from the European Community in the frames of LLP, sectoral program Grundtvig, Grant Agreemen Grant Agreement number : / The publication reflects the views only of its authors, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein. The authors of the Module are not responsible for the content of the websites listed as resources in this handbook. The content of these pages may change over time and is the sole responsibility of their authors 2

3 The Unit : Working Plan The Unit : Games and social media to promote intergenerational learning Gradual introduction to the creative language of video games through investigation of different types of games and exploration of their value as a means to develop key competencies and promote intergenerational dialogue. Introduction to game design and development with practical activities using Scratch. A holistic approach to games and social media for learning through guidelines for the establishment and support of game communities through the use of social networks. Modules M 1 Introduction: Understanding and classifying games Aim: Introduce the core concepts of games, discuss on their learning value and present the most important game genres with respect to their learning potential. Educational value of games from the perspective of intergenerational learning. Practical activities on transforming ordinary games into a learning environment promoting intergenerational dialogue. M 2- Analysing and selecting games: Identifying games for adults and children to play and learn together Aim: Present methodologies and tools to analyse and evaluate games to support game selection and deeper understanding of games. Practical activities promoting self-reflection on own behaviour as game player(s). M 3 Introduction: Tools to invent games (this document introduces this lesson) Aim: Introduce detailed game design methodologies and use of modern game development tools to create games. Practical activities to introduce educators, adults and children to game design and development. M 4 Establishing and supporting game communities Aim: Present a holistic approach to connect game players and game developers within the context of game communities supported by social media. Practical activities to establish and support game communities connecting families and primary school communities that use games to learn and technically skilled teenagers/volunteers that develop and refine games for them. 3

4 Summary 1- Introducing the topic The topic in brief Preparing your work This is very important Now you are prepared to see practices Hands on! Tutorial What? Why? When? Where? How? Who? External Aids Introducing an example of practice Final Remarks References

5 games Module 3 Tools to invent Nektarios Moumoutzis nektar@ced.tuc.gr Marios Christoulakis christoulakis@ced.tuc.gr Laboratory of Distributed Multimedia Information Systems and Applications Abstract How one could exploit modern game development platforms to organize intergenerational learning interventions that go beyond playing games to understanding their internals towards the so called gaming literacy? The aim of this module is to provide guidance towards this need. A general methodology for detailed game design is presented and the Scratch platform is introduced as an environment for non-experts to develop their own games. An alternative detailed design specially tailored for Scratch is used as part of examples of practical activities that an ALICE trainer could follow to introduce adults and children to the secrets of game development. 5

6 1.1. The topic in brief 1- Introducing the topic In the second module of this learning unit we have seen how storyboards could be used to provide a detailed analysis of the visual, audio, interaction and branching characteristics of a game along with game rules and player objectives. We have noted that storyboards, are also used as a tool to describe a new game before the actual production starts. There are many platforms that could be used to develop a game ranging from professional game engines to more simple platforms appropriate for non-technical people, amateurs or even children. In this module we will address issues related to game development. We will see a general methodology for detailed game design that uses appropriate abstractions to make the detailed design general enough to be able to use it in virtually any game development environment. In the practical activities of the module we will introduce Scratch ( as a game development platform appropriate for non-professionals. We will also see how the general purpose methodology for game design could be adapted to Scratch resulting in a game design sheet that could be used for Scratch game development. Before we proceed, let us ask an important question: Why do we need detailed game design? Having a particular game idea expressed through storyboards is enough if our game is fairly simple in terms of number of screens and complexity of in-screen interactions. In case our game idea is rather complex, it is not so easy to interpret the storyboard in particular technical decisions. Ambiguities may exist and should be resolved to end-up with a viable implementation. Detailed game design offers the possibility to turn storyboards into a workable plan so that actual development could start. Good detailed design could turn technical issues into complete non-issues. To this end we need a design methodology that exploits factors common to the structure of virtually all games in order to use these common factors as basic design concepts to develop the detailed designs. We will adopt the methodology termed tokenization from [Rollings & Morris, 2004]. Studying any game (take for example games like Pong, Pac-Man or even non-computer games like Chess and Scrabble) one could identify the following common elements: All games have at least one player. All games have discrete elements that directly or indirectly manipulated by the player. These elements may be referred to as objects, or sprites. Let us call them tokens to avoid confusion with the semantics of the previous words. Tokens are supervised and managed by the computer (the game software, to be precise) according to the rules of the game as implemented in the software and responding to player actions. Think of simple game like Pong. Could you identify the tokens of the game? Note that: The player could be represented by an avatar token Tokens could be hierarchically organized (e.g. a player avatar could consist of a token that is directly manipulated by the player like the player s bat in Pong and another token to present information about the player s score or health or other visual cue related to player s state). The game as a whole could be represented by a game world token that is a container for all the other tokens. 6

7 Consequently, tokens could be visualized as a hierarchical tree rooted at the game world token. To avoid complexity, we could show in these diagram groups of similar tokens (token categories) as one node. Having identified the tokens of the game under consideration, the next step is to model inter-token interactions. When two tokens interact (e.g. when the ball collides with a bat in Pong) an event is generated. Each token receives a message about the event that happened and what other token is related to the event occurrence. Depending on the type of the event, the receiving token behaves in a way they essentially implement game rules and interaction specified in the storyboard design. The tool to represent token interactions is the token interaction matrix. The token interaction matrix is a tabular representation to inter-token interactions that presents what interactions are allowed and what are not allowed and what kind of event is produced as a result of each interaction between two tokens. To make the matrix less complex, we use token categories of similarly behaving tokens. The token interaction matrix facilitates visual check of most important interactions, identification of missing interactions or possible design flaws that should be rectified. It is also useful for finding unexpected chain reactions (or vicious circles, if you prefer) that may be desirable or may render the game unplayable. Depending on our need to keep or eliminate these chain interactions, we should change the interaction modeling accordingly. There are cases, however, when the token interaction matrix is not enough to give a clear picture about a complex process that consists of a series of events being triggered by token interactions. In that case, flow diagrams could be used where the sequencing and branching of events is shown in detail. For complex games, it usual to have tokens that can exist in different states. Depending on its state, a token could have different behaviour and different kind of interactions with the other tokens of the game. For example, in Pac-Man, a ghost changes from hunting state to hunted state as soon as the pac-man each a special pellet. A similar state change happens for the pac-man itself. To model these intra-token state changes, the token-interaction matrix is not appropriate. We need to employ finite-state machines that model how state transitions are triggered as a result of event occurrences. In general, a finite-state machine is a device that has a number of different states, some transitions between them and inputs. In any given time the current state can change or remain the same according to the inputs. More information as well as a small example on what is a finite-state machine can be found here: Finite-state machines could be, in some cases, general descriptions of branching conditions between game screens or levels (these could be considered as different states of the game world) that could be applied to a variety of games of the same genre Preparing your work Initially participants will be introduced to detailed game design through tokenization as a general method that could be adopted independent of the game implementation platform used. The need for detailed game design will be made clear and several examples of the concepts related to tokenization will be given through slide presentation. Examples of token hierarchy, token interaction matrix, events flow diagrams and finite state machines for token state transitions will be given through slides that accompany this module. 7

8 Following this introductory phase, the participants will be invited to use Scratch for developing a simple game following the detailed worksheets that accompany this module. The detailed design of this game will be shown in a more simple form suited for Scratch games. During the personalization phase the participants will be asked to develop a detailed game design related to their personal interests and they will be supported to start developing it in Scratch. This activity may continue during the next module of the learning unit, if necessary This is very important In a seminal paper [Kafai, 2006] on the distinction between playing and making games for learning, Yasmin Kafai concludes that: In the case of instructional games, a great deal of thought is spent by educational designers on content matters, graphical representations, and instructional venues. The greatest learning benefit remains reserved for those engaged in the design process, the game designers, and not those at the receiving end, the game players. After all, the game player is not partial to the discussions involved in developing valid instructional game ideas, designs, and strategies. What finds its way into the final designs is only a substrate of those discussions. In the case of constructionist games, the learner is involved in all the design decisions and begins to develop technological fluency. Just as fluency in language means much more than knowing facts about the language, technological fluency involves not only knowing how to use new technological tools but also knowing how to make things of significance with those tools and most important, develop new ways of thinking based on use of those tools. Beyond that, game-making activities offer an entry point for young gamers into the digital culture not just as consumers but also as producers. [Kafai, 2006] Now you are prepared to see practices Building technological fluency through game design and development is an issue that is relevant for educators, adults and children. Educators could develop their own educational games to make their teaching more engaging and tailored to the needs of their students. Adults and children could develop their own games as a way to express themselves or, if this is done jointly by parent-child teams for example, to enter into an intergenerational dialogue that will strengthen the family links and create new learning opportunities. In the following section we present some indicative practical activities structured around game design and game development and we give further links to those interesting in organizing such kind of interventions Tutorial 2- Hands on! Following a predefined game storyboard supported by a detailed game design detailed worksheets can help a novice learn the basics of a game development platform. This

9 approach has been used during the pskills project to introduce Scratch to educators and can be followed, with appropriate adaptations, for adults and/or children in an intergenerational learning framework that adopts game development as part of its objectives. The approach is essentially the same as the one used during this module to introduce the participants to Scratch What? Game development using Scratch Why? Knowing how to develop a game can help in more deep understanding on games and it is an important aspect of the so called gaming literacy [Felini, 2008] When? This activity may need 2-3 hours to be implemented and can be done without any other time constraints depending on the availability of the participants and the organizer of the activity Where? Depending on the target group, this practical activity could be implemented in classroom, in non-formal learning settings (e.g. in a session organized in a municipal library) or remotely using a networked learning environment to disseminated the learning material and support the learners How? Participants are given a game storyboard that describes the game idea. Then, a very short introduction to Scratch terminology is offered along with the presentation of the game as it will be when finished by each participant. If necessary, the participants are invited to play the game themselves to have a personal view of how the game looks like. Then, a Scratch game design sheet is presented that describes in detail how the game has been designed. Finally, learning activity sheets are given to the participants to follow and develop the game step-bystep Who? Participants in this activity may be children or adults or a mixed audience with children and adults working together. The work to be done following the learning activity worksheets could be done individually or in groups. To work in groups it is necessary that each group works in the same physical place using the same computer External Aids Getting Started with Scratch: Shall we learn Scratch programming ebook (contains the Scratch game design sheet of this module): A video tutorial on creating a pong game in Scratch: (this is a link to the first of the five parts of the tutorial). A guide on how to organize events on introducing children, educators and adults to Scratch:

10 df. Finally a very useful set of tutorials about scratch that range from beginners to very advanced users can be found here: _development 2.2. Introducing an example of practice A team from researchers at the Technical University of Crete worked with teachers in local primary school on the development of educational mini games to support children in their study of school subjects after the school. The team used storyboards to design the games and Scratch to develop them. The objective was to introduce primary school teachers in game design and development using Scratch to enable them develop educational games for their students. The first example is a clock game to help pupils learn the time and how to read an arm clock. The storyboard shows the design of the game and the screenshot that follows the first prototype (no graphics incorporated) in Scratch. 10

11 This game proved to be rather complicated with respect to the synchronization of clock arms and their smooth and realistic movement. A typical primary teacher would need help from a technically skilled person to achieve this kind of movement. The second example is a geography game to help pupils learn regions of Greece. The game, as shown in the storyboard, initially presents a puzzle with the regions of Greece at random places and asks the pupil to arrange them on the map. After arranging them, the pupil is asked to color them (each region should be colored in a certain color). 11

12 The screenshot below shows the first prototype of this game in Scratch (only simple graphics used). Scratch is used to organized workshops for children and for adults on game development world-wide. An example of such activities organized in public libraries of USA is described at [Myers, 2008]. If you want to organize an activity for children and/or adults to introduce Scratch, you may find it very useful to consult the guide available at A guide on how to organize events on introducing children, educators and adults to Scratch: e.pdf 3- Final Remarks We have seen how we could develop our own games using a simple platform (Scratch) that is also appropriate for organizing intergenerational learning activities focusing on game development as an essential part of gaming literacy and as an engaging form of intergenerational collaboration creating new opportunities for learning. We have seen methodologies to design games as an important step before actual game development. Detailed game designs could be used as a resource for intergenerational game development activities along with storyboards (to convey the general game ideas before presenting the detailed design) and learning activity worksheets to facilitate novices in their first use of game development platforms like Scratch. In the following final module of this learning unit, we will develop a more holistic approach to intergenerational learning through games. We will see how one could organize and support game communities where people design, produce and play their own games. These communities could be organized according to distinct roles to account for different skills, needs 12

13 and interests of their members. Their communication could be supported using social networks. The workflows in such a community is organized in certain phases and all the methodologies and tools presented so far about game analysis, evaluation, and design could be used to facilitate the communication within each phase between participants playing different roles (players or testers, designers, and developers) 4- References Felini, D. (2008). Media Education and video games- An action research project with adolescents in an out-of-school educational context. Paper presented at the International Conference on "Youth, Learning, and the Media". Zhejiang University - People's Republic of China, Hangzhou, China, March 27-28, [Retrieved from on 20/7/2012] Kafai, Y. (2006) Playing and making games for learning. Instructionist and constructionist perspectives for game studies. In: Games and Culture. A Journal of Interactive Media, 1 (1), pp Myers, B. (2008). Minds at Play: Using Computer Game Design to Promote Media Literacy. American Libraries, May [Retrieved from at 20/7/2012] Rollings, A., Morris, D. (2004).Game Architecture and Design - A New Edition, New Riders ISBN: