Narrative Game Design-The Hidden Map of MU

Posted by Yupei on 2023 年 10 月 6 号 in Game-based Learning, 所有文章 All Articles, 教育技术 Learning Technologies | Comments Off on Narrative Game Design-The Hidden Map of MU

This is an assignment from the course 2023FS-IS_LT-7384-01 Designing Games for Learning. I have been trying to use the takeaways from the course to design a game to help more students like me, as a new on-campus student in the University of Missouri to better understand the geographic and historical details about the beautiful campus. There are a lot of meaningful and interesting details hidden in the campus, by playing my twine game, I hope the players can be more confident to engage in MU, and be more proud to introduce MU to their friends and family members as MU ambassadors. During the process of designing my game, the criteria for what qualifies as a solid game narrative(Berger, n.d.) helped me a lot:

• Are the story milestones exciting and/or compelling?
• Is the character development organic and gradual?
• Does the narrative have a relationship to the gameplay, or is it independent of it? To what degree is the latter? Do the actions from the narrative have consequences on the gameplay? Does the gameplay have consequences on the narrative?
• Is the narrative frictionless? Or is the fun being interrupted too many times in order for me to follow a story that is not interesting?
• Does the story fit with the rest of the game? Is it tonally consistent? Is the pacing consistent?
• Most importantly, am I emotionally invested?

        I can’t agree more with Annakaisa Kultima’s point, “The game ideas arise from solitude and mature by bouncing” (Kultima, n.d.). At the very beginning of my game design, there was only a blight and blurred thought that I wanted to design a game that could help more students like me as a new resident in Columbia, Missouri.

Game Title:The Hidden Map of MU

Learning Topic and Objectives

        This game is designed for all the learners who want to know more about Mizzou, especially for the new MU students. The gamification learning journey aims to familiarize the learners with the knowledge about the MU campus and increase learners’ interest in MU history, including fun facts. To fulfill this goal successfully, the following learning objectives should be accomplished:

• By the end of this game, the players will be able to discuss with their friends three or more hidden history stories of MU.
• By the end of this game, the players will be able to support human rights.
• By the end of this game, the players will be able to evaluate the value of learning.

Intended Audience

New On-campus students at the University of Missouri.

Twine Prototype URL

https://yuepei.itch.io/the-hidden-map-of-mu

Plot Summary

        A new graduate student (players type their names) enrolls in the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU), and embarks on his or her new school year. This is the player’s first time to step on MU’s historic campus. Columbia, Missouri is a small town, which is different from the player’s previous life experiences. The player is struggling to get used to the new life and finds himself or herself drawn to the rich history of MU. As an eager learner, the player wants to find more answers to his questions on the campus by reading more books or talking to some gurus. By chance, in a corner of the Ellis library, the player finds an old map, and then a magical time-travel journey begins while the player reads the map. The player witnesses the big fire in the Academic Hall and a lynching at the Stewart Road Bridge, and he talks with Thomas Jefferson and other famous people related to MU. During the process of the player’s time-travel journey, a lot of historical details will be shown. Back to real life, the player becomes more familiar with MU. The player is new but knowledgeable about MU and can help more people to know MU’s hidden history. 

Map the Story Progression

	Narration
Background	Even if you believe that you are so familiar with the University of Missouri, Columbia campus, there are some places or hidden histories you may not know. So, this educational game The Hidden Map of MU, is designed for you and other new students at MU. The player will have a fantastic “campus exploration” to travel between different times in history and places on campus. The player will be involved in firefighting to witness the origin of “the Columns (Links to an external site).” and try to stop a lynching at the Stewart Road Bridge (Links to an external site.), talk with Thomas Jefferson, whose family gave his original tombstone (Links to an external site). to MU, a grumpy senior man will talk to the player about his understanding about education after he got his honor Doctoral Degree of Laws, the senior man has a written name, Mark Twain (Links to an external site). Mort Walker (Links to an external site). is in his 20s to chat with the player about his comic dream… The style of the game will be similar to the movie Midnight in Paris.(Links to an external site).
Conflict	The player as a new resident in Columbia, Missouri, is embarrassed in a lot of areas. The Hidden Map of MU makes the player more confident. The player talks with Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, and Mort Walker about the value of learning, the difference between schooling and education, the difference between a degree and an experience, the difference between spiritual abundance and wealth…
Resolution	The player will put himself or herself to a new MU on-campus student’s shoes. With making the choices they learn more details about MU’s history. The game will encourage the learner to explore more fully.
Conclusion	The game encourages the new MU students to explore the campus and their lives bravely and actively. The story aims to remind all the learners how to make choices in their ordinary and academic lives, shares a chance with the players to ponder what they want and what they need, and tells the players that the different possibilities in our lives are based on our choices.

Branching Storyboard

Gamification Aids Problem Solving

        I agree with Karl Kapp’s claim that “Gamification has been shown to improve the ability of learners to problem solve. The key is to design the game-based learning environment in such a manner that it encourages higher-order thinking skills.” In the game, The Hidden Map of MU, I intended to embed the gamification aids with the game.

        In the very beginning of the game, the players will give the protagonist a name. Their own names are encouraged to be used to let them assume the roles in the game. Assuming a role means the learner must actively think about his or her actions, decisions, and choices from a perspective other than him- or herself (Kapp, 2012, p. 232).

        The familiar names of the locations in the MU campus and the pictures used in the game will provide an authentic environment for the learners, especially they have walked around the campus for a couple of times and already familiar with the basic locations and facilities. I strived to create games that closely represent situations the learner will encounter in the real world which will assist the players to solve problems in the game (Kapp, 2012, pp. 234–235).

        After the players get familiar with the basic setting in the game, they will be immersed in a situation immediately, the big fire in the Academic Hall. There was not so much time for the players’ mind wandering. Traditional instruction does not immerse learners in the environment in which the skills need to be practiced; games provide that opportunity and should be leveraged (Kapp, 2012, p. 230).

        When the players start the game, they will encounter a series of dialogues with others or with themselves. The meaningful dialogues are important because they offer additional opportunities for thinking (Kapp, 2012, p. 237). To make sure the dialogues are meaningful, the sentences are designed with more vivid descriptions and detailed instructions.

        After the players are hooked by the game, the complex storyline will keep them immersed more deeply and longer. A well-designed story places the learners into a case study they are not passively reading, they are an integral part of the action (Kapp, 2012, p. 238).

        Most of the players will be new MU students who are curious about knowledge, active with explorations, and passionate about intellect. The challenges the learner will encounter in the game will provide a chance for the player to ponder the value of knowledge and the meaning of life. This a good opportunity for the learners to use metacognition to review their real learning journey at MU. And definitely, this kind of section will challenge the learners. Unless a learner is overcoming challenges, no higher-level learning will occur. The game must place the learner into a situation in which he or she will be challenged (Kapp, 2012, p. 239).

References

Berger, R. (n.d.). Dramatic Storytelling & Narrative Design: A Writer’s Guide to Video Games and Transmedia.

Kapp, K. M. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education (1st edition). Pfeiffer.

Kultima, A. (n.d.). The organic nature of game ideation: Game ideas arise from solitude and mature by bouncing.

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Level 2 Blog: The World of Play

Posted by Yupei on 2023 年 09 月 29 号 in Game-based Learning, 所有文章 All Articles, 教育技术 Learning Technologies | Comments Off on Level 2 Blog: The World of Play

        The second section of the learning journey in the Why So Serious Game Academy (WSSGA) has been becoming more dramatic and challenging. I have been playing my second mentor game, “80 days”, while exploring the “skeleton” of a good game. Where is the skeleton as the foundation of a good game located in? The answer is “a good story”. And then, what is the inner core of a good story? The answer is “a good idea”. Just like the game “80 days”, I have been playing over these days. Jules Verne had a good idea to set a Great Britain Gentleman to travel around the world in 80 days. Developed on this idea, his novel (story) Around the World in Eighty Days was first published in French in 1872 and became popular and famous. Then based on the novel (story), uncountable related learning materials and games were yielded. Even after over 150 years, Jules Verne’s unique idea still shines. “Most of the students in a study reported that not only did their knowledge of the world increase after completing a course assignment but that their interest in the discipline increased as well by using the National Geography Standards in the context of Jules Verne’s Novel”(Donaldson & Kuhlke, 2009). The mentor game 2 I selected, 80 days, won a lot of awards, e.g., TIME Game of 2014, IGF Award for Narrative Excellence, IMGA Award for Narrative…It was released by Inkle for iOS platforms on July 31, 2014 (‎80 Days, 2018).

“When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost—and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl.” —- T.S. Eliot

        Where can I find my good ideas like Verne’s? That was the first question that jumped out of my brain when I was asked to design my own educational game in WSSGA level 2. Annakaisa Kultima gave me valuable suggestions based on her 23 interviews with Finnish game designers and professionals. Her suggestions were “reading, watching television shows and movies, or, not that surprisingly, playing other games”(Kultima, n.d.). I loved the suggestions and followed them in the past several weeks. Besides those games on the WSSGA level 2, I played educational games about water science at Adroit Studios at the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, I played a card game about the bureaucratic system of the US at a workshop led by the faculties from Teaching for Learning Center, I read Dr. Victoria L. Mondelli’s new book The Allure of Play: The Educator’s Guide to Design Games and Creative Active-Learning Exercises, I reread Robert McKee’s classical book Story, and I finished reading the Chapter 7: Applying Gamification to Problem-Solving of Karl Kapp’s The Gamification of Learning and Instruction… If given more time, I would prefer to read more and not start to design my story to align with the 11 parameters for designing a game to teach problem-solving. Even they have stayed in my mind for a while. T.S. Eliot is right when he said, “When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost—and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl.”

        Indeed, if given the fictional protagonist Phileas Fogg forever but not 80 days to travel the world, most possibly, Mr. Fogg would not set off yet, and Verne’s good idea would not have a chance to be developed to a great story, and the following distinguished establishments both in literature and in gamification. The deadlines and constructive learning progression in WSSGA helped me turn my creative stream into a river. And the protagonist in my narrative game has been floating up gradually.

“Tell me and I forgot, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” —- Benjamin Franklin

        I am so lucky to have Dr. Oprean and Nicholas as my mentors and learning models when I was learning how to design games for learning. We three formed a team to design another educational game outside of WSSGA about energy and the environment, which paralleled my learning journey at WSSGA. I obtained more opportunities from this lovely team to practice the theories I learned into practice.

        The tools of collaboration and designing they used to push teamwork forward efficiently impressed me and showed me how to design an educational game more professionally. I have not been learning by reading; instead of that, I have been learning by doing in the team. It was a great experience for me to borrow similar working philosophies from the team project to my personal game design.

        Dr. Oprean Listed all the strategies for writing a good story and let Nicholas and I evaluate each of them, improve them, and polish the story. Besides that, the weekly meetings always went along with extra readings, which enhanced my understanding of educational games. During the process of designing my game, the criteria for what qualifies as a solid game narrative(Berger, n.d.) helped me a lot:

• Are the story milestones exciting and/or compelling?
• Is the character development organic and gradual?
• Does the narrative have a relationship to the gameplay, or is it independent of it? To what degree is the latter? Do the actions from the narrative have consequences on the gameplay? Does the gameplay have consequences on the narrative?
• Is the narrative frictionless? Or is the fun being interrupted too many times in order for me to follow a story that is not interesting?
• Does the story fit with the rest of the game? Is it tonally consistent? Is the pacing consistent?
• Most importantly, am I emotionally invested?

        I can’t agree more with Annakaisa Kultima’s point, “The game ideas arise from solitude and mature by bouncing” (Kultima, n.d.). At the very beginning of my game design, there was only a blight and blurred thought that I wanted to design a game that could help more students like me as a new resident in Columbia, Missouri. After giving up several initial ideas, I decided to ride my bicycle to the MKT trait, a famous natural trait that can lead you along from downtown Columbia to the Missouri River.

On my way back to the campus, a panel on the roadside grabbed my attention. The panel told me a hidden history of the bridge ahead of me,” Near this place James T. Scott, a Black janitor in the medical school at MU, was killed on April 29^th, 1923. A mob brought Mr. Scott to the bridge, place a noose around his neck, and pushed him over the railing while hundreds of spectators watched…The Lynching at Stewart Road Bridge reminds us of how far we have come and the work we have yet to do (Lest We Forget, n.d.).” Nobody told me about this, I thought. If I could collect more hidden histories about the campus and design them in a game, it would allow the players to learn more knowledge about Mizzou’s history in a gamification way. Then, I went back to my apartment to write down the draft of my game story. If I had to repeat this process, I wish I had started to write my first draft earlier and focused on what I was most concerned about.

A beautifully told story is a symphonic unity in which structure, setting, character, genre, and idea meld seamlessly. To find their harmony, the writer must study the elements of story as if they were instruments of an orchestra—first separately, then in concert. —-Robert McKee

       Here is the first draft of my game

        Title: The Hidden Map of MU

        Story summary: Even if you believe that you are so familiar with the University of Missouri, Columbia campus, there are some places or hidden histories you may not know. So, this educational game The Hidden Map of MU, is designed for you and other new students at MU. The player will have a fantastic “campus exploration” to travel between different times in history and places on campus. The player will be involved in firefighting to witness the origin of “the Columns (Links to an external site).” and try to stop a lynching at the Stewart Road Bridge (Links to an external site.), talk with Thomas Jefferson, whose family gave his original tombstone (Links to an external site). to MU, a grumpy senior man will talk to the player about his understanding about education after he got his honor Doctoral Degree of Laws, the senior man has a written name, Mark Twain (Links to an external site). Mort Walker (Links to an external site). is in his 20s to chat with the player about his comic dream… The style of the game will be similar to the movie Midnight in Paris.(Links to an external site).

        Learning goal: This game is designed for all the learners who want to know more about Mizzou, especially for the new MU students. The gamification learning journey aims to familiarize the learners with the knowledge about the MU campus and increase learners’ interest in MU history, including fun facts.  

        Learning Objectives:

• By the end of this game, the players will be able to discuss with their friends three or more hidden history stories of MU.
• By the end of this game, the players will be able to support human rights.
• By the end of this game, the players will be able to evaluate the value of learning.

        Setting: The players will travel on MU’s campus. Check the history details as a new MU student. The historical figures and scenes will keep their own traits in history. Players will act as a time traveler to visit the famous places and people.

        Plot: In the Fall of 2023, a new MU graduate student Yupei enroll in MU. This is his first year both in MU and the US. Yupei struggling to get used to the new life and finds himself drawn to the rich history of MU. By chance, he witnesses the big fire in the Academic Hall, and a lynching at the Stewart Road Bridge, he talks with Thomas Jefferson and other famous people related to MU. During the process of his time travel, a lot of historical details will be shown. Back to real life, Yupei becomes more familiar with MU. He is new but knowledgeable about MU who can help more people to know MU’s hidden history. 

        Conflict: Yupei’s as a new resident in Columbia, Missouri, is embarrassed in a lot of areas. The Hidden Map of MU makes him more confident. Yupei talks with Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, and Mort Walker about the value of learning, the difference between schooling and education, the difference between a degree and an experience, the difference between spiritual abundance and wealth…

        Resolution: Conclusion of the story: The story encourages the new MU students to explore the campus and their lives bravely and actively. The story aims to remind all the learners how to make choices in their ordinary and academic lives, shares a chance for the players to ponder what they want and need, and tells the players that the different possibilities in our lives are based on our choices. 

        The branches:

• Wealth v.s. Spiritual abundance
• A degree v.s. An experience
• Schooling v.s. Education

        The feedbacks I received:

        Commenter A: I would like to see further developed for your final submission is the story that guides this exploration. Twine (and even Scratch) are narrative driven, so facts with reading, and dialogue with various characters are the primary way to interact with the game. This leads to a need to generate a storyline foundation that will allow for players to explore but to also have a sense of purpose…The focus now should be on really defining the learning so you can make sure your design addresses it for your final submission. In prototyping, you don’t have to build the entire game, only the major story parts to see if the game design works without all of the details.

        Commenter B:  While the concept is fascinating, the story summary is somewhat vague in terms of how gameplay mechanics will work. More details on how players will interact with history and complete objectives could provide a clearer picture of the game. I think you’re on point with the firefight. But what activities could be included as interactions with the historical figures? What actions can be taken that are relevant to the content?

        Commenter C: As an online student not living in or from Missouri, I love the idea for your game. Also, the title fits quite well with the game’s premise. Your story see …

        Commenter D: What did you like/dislike about the story and title? (Remember be kind, we are all learning here!) I love this concept. I am really into history so I think this is …

        Commenter E: It sounds like we’re facing similar uncertainties with complexity and Twine. It’s still intriguing to think about the possibilities. I will definitely check your game out! 

        Let my story continue; let the game continue… 

References:

‎80 Days. (2018, January 30). App Store. https://apps.apple.com/cg/app/80-days/id892812659

Berger, R. (n.d.). Dramatic Storytelling & Narrative Design: A Writer’s Guide to Video Games and Transmedia.

Donaldson, D. P., & Kuhlke, O. (2009). Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days: Helping Teach the National Geography Standards. Journal of Geography, 108(2), 39–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221340902945958

Kultima, A. (n.d.). The organic nature of game ideation: Game ideas arise from solitude and mature by bouncing.

Lest We Forget: Lynching at the Stewart Road Bridge Historical Marker. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2023, from https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=169415

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Empowered Learning in Games (7384)

Posted by Yupei on 2023 年 09 月 9 号 in Game-based Learning, 所有文章 All Articles | Comments Off on Empowered Learning in Games (7384)

Empowered Learning in Games (7384)

Yupei Duan

University of Missouri

Author Note

Yupei Duan, Ph.D. student at the School of Information and Learning Technology, University of Missouri.

This practice is one of the assignments of 2023FS-IS_LT-7384-01 Designing Games for Learning

Contact: yupei.duan@mail.missouri.edu

Mentor Game Details

I picked Predynastic Egypt(“Predynastic Egypt,”) as my first mentor game, which is a turn-based historical simulation strategy game. It is designed to lead the players to travel back to 7000 years ago to establish an empire according to unite the tribes, villages, and cities in ancient Egypt, starting from a couple of hunters and collectors. Clarus Victoria is the game developer an independent game development studio from Russia(Clarus Victotia Official Website). The game’s target audience should be older than primary school students who need to be equipped with basic reading abilities.

Hundreds and thousands of years passed in a couple of hours. My learning experience was impressive. It seemed like I was in charge of a country. As a curious and novice country governor, I conducted a lot of trials and errors with the sacrifice of life, resources, and time. This is also a good opportunity for me to check my ordinary life with similar thoughts in the game. For example, I am a new Ph.D. student in the USA, which is a totally different life from mine in China. I need to explore while keeping my safety as the first priority. Then, how do I manage my time and energy while holding many different hats at the same time: I have 9 credits of courses, I am a Graduate Research Assistant working on two different projects, I am a father, a husband, and a son…How to budget my time and money? How do we do things more efficiently? How do I keep myself on the right track to reach my main goals? They are all exactly similar thinking skills and strategies I can polish in the game. I am living my valuable life just like playing this valuable game. 

The game gave me a lot of knowledge related to the history, religion, civilization, and geographical features of Ancient Egypt. The players can also use it to train their management skills and calculation ability. The game’s final objective is the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt. The players must carefully calculate how to distribute the workers, think about which actions should be taken when natural disasters happen, ponder which strategy would be the most proper when the adhered troops offense, etc. As a solo game, Prehistoric Egypt depicted an authentic scene of Ancient Egypt tribes, it showed the resources a tribe in need, a development goal that drove the whole tribe to be boomed, a bald heart, a game player wants to be a manager should have. The players will need to manage all the items and people he or she has wisely in the game in each turn. The players will have enough time to think about the actions they need to do between two turns. The game doesn’t have a time-counting function. The beautiful background music and neat action sound help the players immerse.

I didn’t find any specific associated materials with this game, but I saw there were many articles that introduced the game’s complete achievement guide while introducing Ancient Egypt’s history and civilization very detailedly(Predynastic Egypt – Complete Achievement Guide). The related instructional or learning materials could be made based on them.

Gameplay Experience

My limited understanding of Ancient Egypt came from my middle school World History course and movies like The Mummy Returns. This game gave me another change to go back to the Ancient Egypt. I used around 5 hours to go through the whole game in the  first round, which was 220 turns in total.

The game hooked me for the first time, and it cost me more than four hours to explore and do experiments. Hundreds and thousands of years passed in a couple of hours. My learning experience was impressive it seemed like I was in charge of a country. As a curious and novice country governor, I conducted a lot of trials and errors with the sacrifice of life, resources, and time. This is also a good opportunity for me to check my ordinary life with similar thoughts in the game. For example, I am a new Ph.D. student in the USA, which is a totally different life from mine in China. I need to explore while keeping my safety as the first priority. Then, how do I manage my time and energy while holding many different hats at the same time: I have 9 credits of courses, I am a Graduate Research Assistant working on two different projects, I am a father, a husband, and a son…How to budget my time and money? How to do things more efficiently? How do I keep myself on the right track to reach my main goals? They are all exactly similar thinking skills and strategies I can polish in the game. I am living my valuable life just like playing this valuable game. 

On its surface, gamification is simply the use of game mechanics to make learning and instruction more fun. It seems “fake” artificial or like a shortcut. It’s not. Underneath the surface is the idea of engagement, story, autonomy, and meaning. Games give experiences meaning, they provide a set of boundaries within a “safe” environment to explore, think and “try things out.” Games provide motivation to succeed and reduce the sting of failure(Kapp, 2012, p. 21).

I just had minimal accomplishments in my first round. I didn’t use a lot of time to accomplish the game’s main goal, but I did a lot of trial and error to explore the virtual world. I was not aware of the struggles in the game, and everything was smooth.

When I reviewed this game, I thought there were some possibilities to increase learning opportunities by playing. For example, some background knowledge could be distributed to the learners before the game to let them understand the basic knowledge about the world 7000 years ago, e.g., the religions of the local people, the common terminologies related to ancient Egypt… Besides that, a handout listed clear learning goals and a detailed guide could be helpful to the learners who other elements of the game could easily abstract, but not related to the instructional objectives.

Principles of Learning

Prof. Jim Gee pointed out three different categories of principles on gaming(Chris Thorn, 2013). In the game Predynastic Egypt, I found it contained the following principles:

Category one: Empower Learners

• Co-design. The players can select the choices to continue their ancient Egypt story. 
• Customization. The play’s name (or nickname) will be shown in the game. 
• Manipulation. The player is creating his or her own country. 

Category two: Problem-based Learning

• Pleasantly frustrating. I failed in the first round but knew the game rules better and would like to try again to reach my main goals in the games. 
• Just in time and on demand. The hints were the friendly guide to continue the game. The buttons the player should press were highlighted on each step.
• Fish tank. Initially, there are just a few elements, and the number of elements will rise while the players are getting more and more familiar with the game setting. 
• Sandbox. Safe but feel dangerous when the attacks happen. 

 Category three: Deep understanding

• System thinking. Like governing an actual county, it is a system that needs system thinking. 
• Situated learning. The game brought me to Ancient Egypt 5000 B.C. 

Player Type

The reason why I selected this but not the others is that Prehistoric Egypt fits my game-playing preferences perfectly. As an explorer, I love the games that contain more Alea (Chance) and Mimicary (Simulation or Role Play) as Caillois’ Patterns of Play introduced to me(Kapp, 2012, p. 211).

The past two weeks were fantastic for me, both for my real life and for my game life. Games are the ideal learning environment with built-in permission to fail, encouragement of out-of-box thinking, and a sense of control.

Four years ago, I started my virtual learning journey at the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies as a master’s degree pursuer. I experienced the virtual learning environment at Townsend Hall as a game. Now, I am an on-campus Ph.D. student who can sit in Townsend Hall physically to meet the elite staff and faculty at SISLT, which is another game for me. I want to continue my games.

References:

Chris Thorn (Director). (2013, November 13). Jim Gee Principles on Gaming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk

Clarus Victotia Official Website. (n.d.). Clarus Victoria. Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://clarusvictoria.com/

Kapp, K. M. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education (1st edition). Pfeiffer.

Predynastic Egypt. (n.d.). Clarus Victoria. Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://clarusvictoria.com/predynastic-egypt/

Predynastic Egypt—Complete Achievement Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2023, from https://gameplay.tips/guides/9556-predynastic-egypt.html

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My Style of Game Play and Exciting Experience with the First Mentor Game

Posted by Yupei on 2023 年 09 月 6 号 in Game-based Learning, 所有文章 All Articles, 教育技术 Learning Technologies | Comments Off on My Style of Game Play and Exciting Experience with the First Mentor Game

Time flies, indeed, and especially when you are immersed in a video game you love. Additionally, if the video game was one part of your assignment, then you have solid reasons and 100% confidence to play it on time. I always procrastinate, but I didn’t procrastinate so much this time. I am the lucky person who had a video game assignment in the Designing Games for Learning course guided by Dr. Danielle Oprean, assisted by a game Champion, Arch McGee, from Why So Serious Game (WSSG) Academy. 

Know Yourself

“Know thyself” (Greek: Γνῶθι σαυτόν, gnōthi sauton) is a philosophical maxim which was inscribed upon the Temple of Apollo in the ancient Greek precinct of Delphi(“Know Thyself,” 2023).

As a designer and researcher of gamification, I want to observe video games from higher dimensions than ordinary players. I was an ordinary player before this course. As a naughty boy who grew up in China, video games had more lure than candies to me, which my parents strictly forbade. But I was still crazy curious and addicted to playing them when my parents did not have enough energy to supervise me (I can understand my 7-year-old daughter Ritang better when she tends to play with her iPad for a longer time without my and her mom’s supervision). I played Super Mario Bros and Contra throughout my primary school and middle school. I spent a lot of time playing Command & Conquer: Red Alert, StarCraft, Uncharted Waters, Diablo II: Resurrected, etc. when I was studying in High School. Then, online games became more and more popular when I enrolled in college, and the World of Warcraft “murdered” a lot of my spare time… I even became addicted to online video games in the fall semester when I was a sophomore, which resulted in my two failed courses… After that, I spent a long time pondering the pros and cons of video games, and I noticed the importance of time management skills and effective learning. Day by day, I rescheduled my learning time and playing time and tried to choose the proper games to align them with my learning. For example, I used the Age of Empire series to experience different languages and civilizations and learn world history. I even used some games in my biology and science courses after I graduated from college and became a teacher. I also like the friendly and easy atmosphere when people play video games, and I thought the constructive learning progression is similar to the learning progression when I can use game-style activities properly. So, I love video games, especially those that bring me new knowledge and feelings. 

Dr. Oprean shared with us a tool to test my Game Play Type: Quantic Gamer Motivation Survey The survey told me that I was both an Architect and a Bart.

I think the gamer profile matches me well. I love games that can broaden my horizons, extend my life, enrich my feelings, and touch my inner heart. The profile told me that my primary player type is the “Architect,” who tends to play games independently, make decisions, and enjoy the progression. I truly enjoy the feeling of establishing projects and achievements in the games. Meanwhile, the profile uncovered my secondary player type, the “Bard,” who is also good at passionately interacting with team members to explore the fantasy world. Playing video games is one of my ways of socializing. I have some lifelong friends who share similar memories of playing video games together. 

My Game Player Type

If someone askes me to choose one game I love most, that will be Uncharted Waters IV.

This is a simulation and role-playing video game dealing with sailing and trading, themed around the Age of Discovery. By the way, Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe were my favorite novels when I was studying in high school. High school was the period for me to play video games most frequently, so the game gave me a very deep impression. As a player in Uncharted Waters IV, I can take the role of a captain to manage a seagoing fleet to trade, hunt treasure, be a privateer, conquer the world, or travel all over the planet. During the procedure, romantic plots and sagas happened. I even learned the world history and geology while playing this game. The impressive and touching storylines in the game made me cry and laugh. Sometimes, it was hard to tell the difference between my illusion from the game and my daily life. Even right now, when I type these words, my heart bumps much faster with recalling the details of the game. 

Karl M. Kapp introduced one often-cited classification of player types created by Richard Bartle, a well-known figure in the gaming industry, who classified four different play types: Killers, Achievers, Socializers, and Explorers(Kapp, 2012, p. 204). I am an explorer who always tries to find out as much as I can about the game environment. For example, in my favorite video game Uncharted Waters, my goals were to explore all the nooks and crannies of that simulation world. 

The First Mentor Game I played

Let’s go back from my view as an ordinary player to a higher dimensional viewer as a gamification designer and researcher. I picked Predynastic Egypt as my first mentor game, which is a turn-based historical simulation strategy game.

It is designed to lead the players to travel back to 7000 years ago to establish an empire according to unite the tribes, villages, and cities in ancient Egypt, starting from a couple of hunters and collectors. The reason why I selected this but not the others is that Prehistoric Egypt fits my game-playing preferences perfectly. As an explorer, I love the games that contain more Alea (Chance) and Mimicary (Simulation or Role Play) as Caillois’ Patterns of Play introduced to me(Kapp, 2012, p. 211).

In the past two weeks, I didn’t have time to try my second mentor game, 80 Days. The Predynastic Egypt occupied me for more than 4 hours in the first round when I realized. My limited understanding of Ancient Egypt came from my middle school World History course and movies like The Mummy Returns. The game gave me a lot of knowledge related to the history, religion, civilization, and geographical features of Ancient Egypt. The game’s final objective is the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt. The players need to calculate carefully how to distribute the workers, think about which actions should be taken when natural disasters happen, ponder which strategy would be the most proper one when the adhered troops offense, etc. I was not a good game player, I missed the mainstream to build a great and harmonious Egypt but focused on the detailed data of workers, food, production, army, culture, and authority. I finally realized that I had cruised away from the main storyline so far when there were just 10 turns left. 

Reflections on playing my First Mentor Game

1. The interrelationship between different elements in the game

During the whole process of playing the game, I could feel the Prehistoric Egypt was a holistic system. A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcome(Kapp, 2012, p. 41).”

Initially, I noticed myself playing the game from a game designer and researcher’s view, but I became immersed in the game deeper and deeper as a purely joyful player. I totally forgot my higher goals eventually. The elements in the game worked together to show me a vivid ancient Egypt, not merely relying on the background music, the user interface, and the feelings when I touch the screen, but the interrelationship between all the elements. The figures introduced me to the history and civilization of ancient Egypt, and the algorithm encouraged and guided me to play more and more…

2. The craft and the actual value of gamification

On its surface, gamification is simply the use of game mechanics to make learning and instruction more fun. It seems “fake” artificial or like a shortcut. It’s not. Underneath the surface is the idea of engagement, story, autonomy, and meaning. Games give experiences meaning, they provide a set of boundaries within a “safe” environment to explore, think and “try things out.” Games provide motivation to succeed and reduce the sting of failure(Kapp, 2012, p. 21).

The game hooked me for the first time, and it cost me more than four hours to explore and do experiments. Hundreds and thousands of years passed in a couple of hours. My learning experience was impressive it seemed like I was in charge of a country. As a curious and novice country governor, I conducted a lot of trials and errors with the sacrifice of life, resources, and time. This is also a good opportunity for me to check my ordinary life with similar thoughts in the game. For example, I am a new Ph.D. student in the USA, which is a totally different life from mine in China. I need to explore while keeping my safety as the first priority. Then, how do I manage my time and energy while holding many different hats at the same time: I have 9 credits of courses, I am a Graduate Research Assistant working on two different projects, I am a father, a husband, and a son…How to budget my time and money? How to do things more efficiently? How do I keep myself on the right track to reach my main goals? They are all exactly similar thinking skills and strategies I can polish in the game. I am living my valuable life just like playing this valuable game. 

3. The Jim Gee’s principles on Gaming I found

Prof. Jim Gee pointed out three different categories of principles on gaming. In the game Predynastic Egypt, I found it contained the following principles:

Category one: Empower Learners

• Co-design. The players can select the choices to continue their ancient Egypt story. 
• Customization. The play’s name (or nickname) will be shown in the game. 
• Manipulation. The player is creating his or her own country. 

Category two: Problem-based Learning

• Pleasantly frustrating. I failed in the first round but knew the game rules better and would like to try again to reach my main goals in the games. 
• Just in time and on demand. The hints were the friendly guide to continue the game. The buttons the player should press were highlighted on each step.
• Fish tank. Initially, there are just a few elements, and the number of elements will rise while the players are getting more and more familiar with the game setting. 
• Sandbox. Safe but feel dangerous when the attacks happen. 

 Category three: Deep understanding

• System thinking. Like governing an actual county, it is a system that needs system thinking. 
• Situated learning. The game brought me to Ancient Egypt 5000 B.C. 

The past two weeks were fantastic for me, both for my real life and for my game life. Games are the ideal learning environment with their built-in permission to fail, encouragement of out-of-box thinking, and sense of control.

Four years ago, I started my virtual learning journey at the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies as a master’s degree pursuer. I experienced the virtual learning environment at Townsend Hall as a game. Now, I am an on-campus Ph.D. student who can sit in Townsend Hall physically to meet the elite staff and faculty at SISLT, which is another game for me. I want to continue my games.

References

Kapp, K. M. (2012). The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education (1st edition). Pfeiffer.

Know thyself. (2023). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Know_thyself&oldid=1172237727

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My Accomplishments at WSSG Design Academy

Posted by Yupei on 2023 年 08 月 28 号 in Game-based Learning, 教育技术 Learning Technologies | Comments Off on My Accomplishments at WSSG Design Academy

Here is page tracking my accomplishments at Why So Serious Game Design Academy.

Bronze Knowledge Award. This is a basic level reward for Level. 2.

I’ve been awarded the silver knowledge attribute. This is an extra challenge, so I got extra points after the accomplishment.

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