Learning

In this first of three sections, you will learn about the successful elements of good game design.

Required Resources

• There is a very interesting book called Game Design and Intelligent Interaction.  It is an open-access book that has been peer-reviewed and edited by Ioannis Deliyannis. Many of the chapters will be useful to you if you are interested in gaming and game design. For this first segment, please read chapter one by Mifrah Ahmad titled “Categorizing Game Design Elements into Educational Game Design Fundamentals.” If reading academic research is new to you, be patient as you read through. The author discusses several elements, first examining game design elements and then examining educational game design elements. You can see these by looking at all the tables and figures. The author brings them together in Figure 4.  Please consider the following questions as you read this and look through the tables and figures:
  • When you think of playing a game, what are the main elements you consider to be important for gameplay?
  • When do you think about your role as an educator? What elements also exist in pedagogy? For instance, think about the role of goals, freedom, and challenges in learning.
  • What game would you like to develop, and how would each of the factors or elements shown in Figure 4 influence your game design?

Additional Resources

• Popular Press
  • Brandon Rollins – 10 Elements of Good Game Design
  • Gamedesigning – What Makes a Good Game Design?
  • Graham Dolle – The 7 Elements of Game Design
  • Intel - Game Design Principles in Your Favorite Games
  • TutsPlus – Game Design Tutorials
• Research materials
  • Lankoski, P. & Holopainen, J. (2017). Game Design Research. ETC Press.
  • Ma, Y., Vallet, F., Cluzel, F., & Yannou, B. (2019, July). Analysing the relevance of serious game elements for effectively teaching innovation processes. In Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design (Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 439-448). Cambridge University Press.
• Videos
  • Brackeys – Basic Principles of Game Design
  • Field of View: The Art of Game Design – 5 Principles of Game Design
  • Filament Games – What Makes Great Learning Games
  • Integral: Redesigning Humanity -  Educational Game Design Fundamentals with George Kalmpourtzis and Jason Grant

Required Evidence

• Submit a 1-2 page reflection on what you learned from the chapter reading and anything else you may have decided to read for this microcredential. Specifically, consider the following two questions:  First, what are the most important elements of good game design?  Second, in what ways is game design like curriculum design, or in what ways should curriculum design mirror good game design?
• Formatting – One to two pages maximum; double-spaced, no smaller than 11pt font.
• Use references to support your claims. References do not count towards the 1-2 page minimum/maximum. Any format for references is allowed, but APA is preferred.
  • APA Formatting and Style Guide
  • APA Citation Generator

Evidence Review Criteria

• Criterion 1: Educators will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental elements of game design.