The journey I like taking my students through is the process of creating historical and narrative fiction. Just like a real journey, the process can be long, strenuous, unpredictable, and hopefully doesn’t end in tears. But not every time my class started a story, we finished it. While it’s satisfying to complete a student-made story with no loose ends, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, that’s not the main goal; the goal is the process. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you’ve not completed the story in your allotted time. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t perfected that compelling protagonist or figured out which friends become enemies, and which enemies become friends, or how your main character will be richer for the experience. What matters is you start the journey.

Why Stories?

The “journey,” or story-making process, allows educators to target and develop curriculum-specific skills while addressing students’ social and emotional needs. The process of creating rich, evidenced-based stories benefits students in several ways. First, we can use this process to build skills necessary for their future success, specifically analytical thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving, leadership, and collaboration. Second, stories are an excellent means of looking into the future, predicting, explaining, and understanding the world around us. We use them to encourage introspection, personal growth, and behavior change. Third, the process can be extremely fun. Literary devices such as hooks, character archetypes, and story archetypes allow students to customize their stories, increasing their buy-in, intrinsic motivation, and time on an assignment.

Skill Acquisition

The story-making process lends itself to skill acquisition in various ways. For one, educators can create situations where students must practice and develop targeted skills. Curriculum-friendly and highly sought-after skills such as analytical thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving, leadership, and collaboration can be woven into the story-making process; see the World Economic Forum’s list of Core Skills below. Second, different junctions of the “journey” allow for mastery checks, formative and summative assessments, and meaningful feedback. Third, students learn more when they are motivated. The creative process, in which students can express themselves and make crucial decisions, can be practical and fun.

How can you incorporate skills into the creation process? It depends. If you want students to conduct research or use primary and secondary sources, you can help students find and use reliable sources. If you would like students to practice analytical thinking, have them break a concept down into smaller parts, looking for patterns and underlying principles. Likewise, if you want students to collaborate, ensure they rely on each other. Stories are an exciting and effective way for students to learn new skills.

Growth Through Self-Expression

The story-making process is an opportunity to help students grow socio-emotionally through self-expression. This can start by simply encouraging students to make decisions along our journey. Which characters will be used? Where will they go? What will they do? According to counselor and therapist Janine Hodge, students who express themselves are likelier to experience good mental health, healthy connections, well-being, and respectful boundary setting within relationships.

Expression through stories allows students to test out their feelings and beliefs while maintaining plausible deniability. “It’s not me that feels that way; it’s our hero.” The creation of stories helps us achieve a deeper understanding of a given topic and also helps us make sense of the world and, more importantly, ourselves.

Starting a Story with Literary Devices

Start the story-creation process by choosing the general story context. As a former social studies teacher, this would be the time and place we discuss in class, e.g., The Aztec Empire in Mesoamerica. However, a science teacher may choose something like the Center for Disease Control (CDC) or “your immune system,” while a French teacher may choose a trip to The Louvre. The creative process has already started!

Next is research; make sure your students have some good primary and secondary sources to draw inspiration and ensure this work of fiction is as accurate as possible. This will improve a student’s ability to use reliable sources and extract information from a text. This can also be a fun time to start brainstorming ideas regarding a story’s who, what, when, where, and why.

The literary devices below will help you get a start on your story. They are by no means the only three things you may need to write a story, but it’s a good start. Use character archetypes, the shape of our stories, and hooks to draw inspiration and get the creative juices flowing.

Archetypes

One fun way of developing a story and allowing students to express themselves is using archetypes. Archetypes are the recurring symbols, people, and storylines in literature, painting, or mythology. Psychologist Carl Jung said archetypes are collectively inherited unconscious ideas and thought patterns universally present in individual psyches. Stories can have character and story archetypes, but it may be helpful to consider them story prototypes. Some evolutionary theorists believe archetypes result from evolutionary dynamics and personal experiences, adaptive responses to social problems. Classic characters and storylines emerge out of dynamics and classic problems. See the Character Archetype wheel to the right.

Character Archetypes

Character archetypes allow us to create rich, historically accurate characters that our students can love, hate, or relate to. You and your students can create exciting protagonists, antagonists, heroes, anti-heroes, and red herrings with backgrounds, flaws, depth, and arches. Think of the most compelling characters of all time. My list includes Dr. Hannibal Lector, Tyler Durden, Ellen Ripley, Lt. Aldo Raine, Mickey “The One-Punch Machine Gun” O’Neil, Jules Winnfield, Anton Chigurh, and Kaiser Söze. Do they fall nicely within one of the above classical archetypes? Or do they represent more than one classic archetype? And if you do not know who these characters are, I envy you, for you have some great stories in your future, but proceed cautiously.

To make sense of a character archetype, consider the stereotypical people you might see in a given context. Who were the people who inhabited Classical Athens; who would come to mind? The “sage” or scholar, a figure like Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle, the “ruler” or elected official or power-hungry politician. An “everyman,” in this case, could be a street merchant, sailor, or fisherman, or any sort of common person. If the context of your story is Japan in the 1500s, it may feature a young samurai seeking mastery over his craft, which we may classify as a hero. Likewise, in any culture or time, you may find someone seeking safety, classified as an ‘innocent”. An individual seeking liberation fits the classic “outlaw” archetype. But it’s not just the characters that make our story compelling; sometimes, it’s the shape of those stories.

Story archetypes

Story Archetypes, like character archetypes, are common themes of human experience. Classic stories of conflict, whether person vs. person or person vs nature, link to issues of survival and protection. Each structure may also model skills valuable to our prosperity, including communication, teamwork, and coordination. Consider the “hero’s journey,” in which the main character leaves what is known to him/her, finds mentors, and overcomes challenges. There is a reason this story has been told many times, in many ways, because it’s relatable.

Kurt Vonnegut argued in his Master’s defense that stories can be easily plotted on an X and Y Axis. The X-axis represents the story’s duration, from beginning to end, while the Y-axis represents fortune; near the top, you have health, riches, and prosperity, while near the bottom, you have poverty, disease, and despair. The University of Chicago rejected Vonnegut’s idea because it was “so simple,” but that doesn’t mean he was entirely wrong. Consider the classic story of “Man in Hole,” seen above. As Vonnegut explains, “It needn’t be about a man, and it needn’t be about somebody getting into a hole,” in which someone, considered above average, gets into trouble and then gets out of it again. “People love that story; they never get sick of it,” Vonnegut added. Some examples of this storyline are The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland, and Finding Nemo. Another classic shape is Boy Meets Girl, but it needn’t be about a boy or a girl; that’s just a way to remember it. In this classic shape, the main character, an average person on an average day, finds something wonderful, then loses it and gets it back again, sort of. Think Romeo and Juliet or 500 Days of Summer. There are more classic examples of these story archetypes, including Rags to Riches Overcoming the Monster, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, Rebirth, Which Way is Up, From Bad to Worse, etc. The archetype, or shape, will have different names depending on the sources.

Archetypes are frameworks at our disposal to create rich and immersive stories with students. It’s an opportunity to create classic tales that have stood the test of time because of their cross-cultural relevance. They also allow valuable social simulations, a safe way for students to practice skills. For example, if you fail to recognize a character in a story as a charlatan, there are few consequences in the classroom, but if that happens in real life, it may take an emotional toll or cause financial loss. However, the character and story archetypes aren’t enough, its important to keep the story exciting. This can be done through a hook.

Hook

Lesson plans, like good stories, often include a hook, defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the “selling point.” The hook is where the story becomes meaningful, moving beyond attention to voluntary self-engagement. Teachers, writers, and storytellers use hooks to capture a wide range of emotions, including curiosity, uncertainty, anticipation, surprise, wonder, imagination, amusement, and amazement. Think of the beginning of your favorite story; what did the creator do to draw you in? Ray Bradbury starts Fahrenheit 451 with, “It was a pleasure to burn.” George Orwell, in 1984, opens with, “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking 13.” Not 15 minutes into the 3-hour Saving Private Ryan, the Allied troops land on Omaha Beach, giving the audience a horrific look into the realities of D-Day. The opening scene of Cormack McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men exposes the audience to the nature of Anton Chigurh, giving them a hint of why there is, in fact, no country for old men. Fueled by emotion, hooks heighten responses to stimuli, increasing one’s ability to learn and retain information, and not to mention, they’re very fun.

Conclusion

Writing historical or narrative fiction stories with students can be long, complicated, and exhausting. However, this process helps with skill acquisition and socio-emotional growth. Literary devices such as archetypes and hooks add rich details to the characters and storyline, making it relatable, the characters lovable or hateable, resulting in immersive, unforgettable stories that help our students empathize with one another while encouraging introspection and personal growth. Stories do take a long time; they are unpredictable, but like most journeys, you’ll be better for it.

The post Start the Journey first appeared on Ludogogy.

O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.

A pile of random game-making materials. Two hour time slot. “Go! Make a game!”

For some, this is oxygen to their designer’s brain, feeding the spark that generates interesting games, but for other game designers like me, this type of game design jam doesn’t work. It’s akin to the blinking cursor on a document when it’s time to write a big paper for school. You know so much about your subject, and you’ve been working so hard to research and compile your ideas, but when it comes to actually starting the work–you blank. You have so many ideas, but which to pick and where to start?

There’s something about the temporary momentousness that can arise in game design jams–the time to design is NOW, with these materials, so procrastination and inaction cannot be entertained.  Game design jams are, in the words of Adrienne Ezell, graphic and game designer, “a great way to spark ideation and fast iteration.” Tim Blank, designer, says, “Game jams force us to use a different side of our creative brains that we don’t often use much as designers. We often do a lot of thinking when we iterate on a game, but game jams don’t give us the time to do that. They force us to design by trial and error, which is at the heart of experience design. They also require us to listen to what the game wants to be, as opposed to using our pre-set parameters for it.” Sen-Foong Lim, designer, says, “I thrive under pressure and work well with constraints, so jams are my… jam. I find the pressure cooker of a game jam so refreshing. My brain needs the strict deadline to force it to work on things.” Game design jams, just by existing, can launch designers from ideation to prototyping quickly.

Game design jams shove designers into the heart of the design process, but outcomes are not guaranteed.

Game design jams can have the opposite effect of sparking ideas; they can confound or even stymie them. The pressure of producing a working game in that time frame, whether it’s an hour or eight, coupled with the performative aspect of designing in front of strangers, is productive for some designers, not for others. Elizabeth Hargrave, designer, says, “My personal experience at the one game jam I have participated in was that it confirmed that I hate being forced to be creative in front of people, with time pressure. I’m glad other people enjoy them, am happy to watch, but my brain freezes and nothing comes out.” So how to create a design jam where designers can be successful?

When I was invited to present at Tabletop Network in 2019, I decided to run a game jam, a very specific kind of game jam. I had taught game design to middle school students for 17 years at that point, so I had a good sense of what worked to help others design games. As a teacher and designer, I had undertaken transformative professional development experiences that informed my thinking. The two guiding ideas that shaped my jam were “Bias Towards Action,” and “Fast and Cheap” from the productivity triangle. First, the design mindset “Bias Towards Action,” from the Stanford d.school method of design thinking, means that if you have a choice between thinking and doing, start doing, because you’ll be thinking as you do the work, and you will progress much faster. The second key idea is to avoid preciousness in design by iterating extraordinarily rapidly. Out of Good, Fast, and Cheap, designers can only choose two, and this jam embraces the concept of Fast and Cheap. In such a short amount of time, games won’t be Good, so designers don’t have to worry about that. They just have to make something testable, in any small part, so that they can work towards it being good later. When we spend a lot of time on ideas, they become precious, and often we don’t want to throw out an idea that has had a lot of investment, even with a low amount of payoff. When we develop the ability to toss out non-functional ideas, we get better at developing the ideas that have actual promise. With these ideas in mind, time became the determining factor in shaping the jam.

In a 45 minute session, designers were presented with three game design challenges, ten minutes each. They were provided the specific materials to use for each challenge, and could choose to collaborate or not with other designers. I presented the challenge, distributed resources, and set them off; and then I did it again, and again. I announced the time several times during each challenge to help with pacing throughout. There was no sharing of results afterwards, unless designers chose to do so outside of the session with me or others. I called this event “A Lightning Multi-Game Design Jam.”

Several key decisions guided my design process for the LMGDJ.

1. Design and material constraints remove some decision-making from the process to allow focus on other specific aspects of design.
2. Ten minutes is not enough time to design a full game, but it can spark an idea that could turn into a full game later.
3. If a designer hates any of the challenges or the format itself, at least it’s quick.

Design and material constraints remove some decision-making from the process to allow focus on other specific aspects of design. The first challenge was called, “This Race Game Is in the Bag.” Designers were given a paper bag with sets of bits inside. They could only use the paper bag itself and the bits. Limiting the resources is obvious; I removed choices about what to use, so they could focus just on what was given, not what was possible for components. The race game concept is one of the best I’ve found for helping anyone to design a game for the first time. First, most of the common kid and family games (Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Sorry, etc) are race games in some way (moving around a track controlled by a randomizer) so it’s familiar structure. Second, race games have the same objective and victory condition–be the first player to cross the line. In providing the objective and victory condition, designers needed only to start with HOW players would move their pieces. By providing specific components and game outcome, designers can focus on the key aspects of the design challenge to iterate quickly workable ideas.

Ten minutes is not enough time to design a full game, but it can spark an idea that could turn into a full game later. The ten minute limitation is the most divisive choice in the design of this event, but in a sneaky way, it also serves to help people succeed. The reality of a game design jam, even for much longer jams, is that creating a full, working game is very difficult to do; and when you don’t create a full workable game in that time, it can really feel like failure.  Success in ten minutes isn’t a full game, but is the start of what could be a full game. Success is creating something that might be worthwhile to keep pursuing. Jay Bell, designer, says, “It blows my mind that 10 months after a game jam prompt, I’ve created a solid game outside of my normal genre. Sometimes jams can produce fantastic nuggets, diamonds even.” If designers came away with one really cool idea from each challenge, or even from one challenge, that can be enough to call it successful.

If a designer hates any of the challenges or the format itself, at least it’s quick. If you hate what you are doing in a longer game design jam, you have to spend much longer with that game idea than you might if you were working on something at home on your own terms. The ten-minute limitation allows you a very short tunnel before the light appears to free you from a non-functional challenge. The ten-minute constraint did not work for designer Cat Drayer, who says, “The very short game jams don’t work for me at all, because my brain isn’t ready. If I am inspired in the wild, I can kick out a game idea in seconds, and have done so over and over with loose prompts, but with very tight time pressure, nothing happens.” Cat continues, “A game jam is meant to make you uncomfortable in some way. It should push you out of your normal design zone to try new things. The challenge for me personally is to find how far outside my space I can operate, and the go/no go is currently time. If I haven’t got enough time to digest the prompt, nothing happens.” The time constraint can simply limit designers too much, based on their personal preferences and style.

Designers make choices, and in the Lightning Multi-Game Design Jam, I made specific choices that impacted designers differently. At best, the jam has sparked ideas that became published games; at worst, its format has been too limiting for some designers to generate meaningful game ideas. This format was chosen with very specific goals and outcomes in mind, and certainly there are many other possibilities for design jam spaces. If you are considering designing and running a game jam, the lessons learned from this style of jam can help you to see how employing different ways to use time, resources, and specific design constraints will impact the outcomes for designers.

May the muse of fire ascend your game inventions (and design jams) ever higher.

Appendix:

Since 2019, I have run the LMGDJ online during covid and in person close to ten times, and I’ve adapted the different challenges each time for each audience and setting, while usually keeping the race game challenge as the first. Here is an incomplete list of design challenges that I have used.

Design Challenges

The Race Game is in the Bag

As described above; this challenge was about focusing on HOW a race could be won using provided materials.

The IP Challenge

A real company’s set of characters was to be the basis of a buzzworthy, social-media-friendly game. Designers were given two pieces of cardstock that were the entirety of resources for a flatpack giveaway, so space for rules meant less space for components, and each designer was given a two page dossier on the IP characters for them to use.

The Player Experience Challenge

Designers called out emotions and I picked “Rage.” Using paper and additional components, designers had to create a game that elicited rage from their players.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Make a two-player game based on Valentine’s Day using pennies and index cards. Two player games  have great potential for complete interaction between players, and Valentine’s Day can generate a wide range of narratives for games.

Push It!

Designers had to come up with their “entrance song” if they were a professional wrestler or other sports player, and had to design a press your luck game using dice and other components to make a game based on that song. Since entrance songs can generate strong feelings, the idea is to match that feeling to a game that elicits the same, or to draw some other inspiration.

Pick a Direction

Using dice, toothpicks, and meeples, create a game where “Direction” is the driving theme. This was used at an academic conference with a wide variety of audiences from education to corporate, so the theme “Direction” was intentionally chosen to allow a wide range of interpretations, and the components were specifically limited to facilitate quick design ideas.

Think Outside the Box

Using game components and an empty game box, create a game where players must integrate the box into the design itself.  I just think game boxes are an underutilized resource.

The post Lightning Multi-Game Design Jams first appeared on Ludogogy.

Gamification is an innovative methodology to get people to participate and be motivated and help them achieve goals by applying game design elements and methods into a non-game environment. The library can provide an interesting experience to users by utilizing gamification, and gamification can make the library more fun and engaging.

Utilizing gamification in the library

• Educating library users: Gamification makes users feel entertained and engaged, and they learn about utilizing library resources. The library at North Carolina State University provided a gamified Scavenger Hunt, so students could learn how to use the library by interacting with librarians. Users can understand and utilize the library better through fun games.
• Participating in library resource management: To allow better access to large-scale library resources, users can actively participate in the work through gamification. In the National Library of Finland, the Digitalkoot service provided an interesting game to users. It asked players to edit the text errors input by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. Digitalization work that was previously done manually, by crowdsourced volunteers, could be done by more general users. This could contribute to helping more people access the library resources.
• Experiencing personalized information service: Gamification can be utilized to effectively support solutions to individual information problems. For reading activities, especially, gamification elements such as challenges, rewards, and competition, can lead to consistent reading habits and make accessing necessary information more effective. Through gamified reading support service, users can personalize their reading history and interests. They will get information about future reading opportunities. In addition, they can the right level of challenges to enhance the power and motivation to continue to read. For example, Lemontree is a social game-based learning system at the University of Huddersfield, U.K., is a gamification case to effectively increase the learning performance of students by using library data. (Walsh 2014).
• Services to enhance social relationships: Interesting gamified library programs can attract more people to the library. Also, it can effectively provide the experience of making social relationships based on library resources. New York Public Library developed the augmented reality game ‘Find the Future at NYPL’ as part of the celebration of its Centenary. It’s about solving quests related to one hundred historical artifacts hidden in a library building. In the process of solving quests, 500 participants could write down personal stories based on their inspiration from the library collections. Through that process, a co-created book which included future stories was made.

Gamification to increase the public interest in library

Gamification enhances the role of the library as a social place in which everybody can participate and meet. Through gamified programs, users can access library resources more effectively. Gamification can stimulate lively interactions between librarians and users, leading to strengthened social relationships. According to Koivisto & Malik(2021) whose article includes a meta-study of gamified research papers for the aged population, gamification was proven to effectively utilize in-person communication and increase relationship numbers in elderly people. According to this research (Koivisto & Hamari 2019), recognizing the self-efficacy of old people and positively increasing social emotions such as motivation and loneliness are possible through the program of enhancing social relationships by gamification.

How to apply the gamification to the library

The most important thing that gamification must focus on, is effectively increasing access to library resources. Rather than providing unconditional fun and flow, the library should emphasize the original vision and the purpose of the program. The library can be an amazing information environment for users by coordinating its resources and services with adequate gamification. To effectively apply gamification to the library, the following should be considered.

1. Clearly defining the objective and results of the gamified program in accordance with the mission and vision of the library
2. Applying the interesting gamified elements and forms by recognizing the participants’ demands, interests, and preferences
3. Increasing the participants’ motivation by providing feedback, recognition, and rewards in program operation.
4. Ensuring the system evaluates and measures the effects of gamification for library employees and participants
5. Periodically monitoring and improving the operation of gamified programs based on evaluation

The world is changing, and the demand of users is changing along with it. In this changing landscape, gamification can play an important role in revolutionizing and reinventing the library for a new sustainable way of working. I expect that innovation in gamification methods will continue to bring new power to efforts to attract library users, into the future.

The post Libraries and Gamification first appeared on Ludogogy.

Accessibility is a concept that is often talked about in game design. Specifically when it comes to making games more accessible to a wider audience. But what does accessibility mean and what does it entail when designing games for entertainment, learning, or personal development?

This article will address how accessibility affects the player experience. We’ll dive deeply into why accessibility challenges make them the “wrong” kind of difficulty for players. This article will address accessibility as design considerations for the widest and most diverse audience. We’ll first cover designing with accessibility in mind from the start and then cover types of accessibility changes made in game design. Those changes include accessibility addressing motor movement; cognition; vision; hearing; and economics. This article will close on how designers can use accessibility to continually improve their practice and design.

The “wrong” kind of difficult

So what do we mean by accessibility? Accessibility generally means making something easy for other to use; engage; or understand. That’s already a broad definition; so for this article as it relates to game design, let’s tackle accessibility as a means of making a game available and playable to the widest possible audience. Preventing this kind of accessibility makes games the “wrong” kind of difficult.

Often designers think this means making something color blind friendly or translating a rule book into other languages. But accessibility means more than just that. Accessibility also means making games that players can play who have slower motor functions from being older.  Or emphasize another sense than just relying on vision.

Really, accessibility boils down to making sure that agency remains in the hands of the person most important to game design: the player. Making sure that the player can access and engage with a game on all levels regardless of their background makes them as accessible as possible. When they are not accessible; players often have to rely on other players to act or make decisions for them. That reduces their agency – and their decision making capabilities.

The widest possible audience

Accessibility means making games available for the widest possible audience. Of course this affects some types of games more than others. Video games that require sensitive motor input (think of a game like Overwatch) is probably not that accessible to someone with poor motor controls. Conversely; board games can address this through house rules or other player made changes to the game. But often these may not reflect the direction of the designer and can detract from the experience.

To truly make a game available for others, a designer has to think as the player. They must avoid approaching design decisions with specific pre-conceived notions of who their players will be. Instead, they have to concentrate on who their players are and design with their needs in mind.

Of course a game’s player base can be really diverse. As consequence, that means that accessibility design options can be as equally diverse.

Diversity and accessibility

Sometimes designers get hung up on accessibility meaning diversity and vice versa. While they reflect one another they are often a function from one to the other. Meaning that accessible games have the power to draw more diverse audiences. Likewise, diverse audiences are drawn to more accessible games.

That means that diverse audiences could also include those with different play styles. This is particularly prevalent in current board game designs where modes are created for players in mind. They could include a typical competitive “orthogame” mode where players compete against each other; a cooperative mode where players team up against the game; or even a solo mode.

Likewise table top games can include functions or features that make the game harder or easier according to players’ desires. Doing so ensure that the game remains fun – but accessible – for novice and experience players alike. Hanabi does this well with the introduction of the ”rainbow” cards in the deck. These make the game more challenging  – but also more satisfying to play for more experienced players.

Hanabi is available on Amazon

Accessibility from the start

Accessibility is also often something that is tacked on at the very end of the core game design and development process. But it doesn’t have to be? A designer who is accessibility minded will always look at a game and a design form the player’s perspective. They are always asking themselves how players with these abilities or these backgrounds can access and play the game.

Starting with accessibility in mind from the start makes accessibility a core function – and a feature – of a game. Rather than just a last minute design consideration.

That means that when designers start with accessibility in mind from the beginning they can integrate it into other areas of the design process. This could include art development; art direction; core loop development; and even how playtesting is conducted.

Types of accessibility changes

With accessibility consideration comes accessibility changes that can be implemented and adapted for the game. These range from the very basic; to intermediate changes; to more advanced changes.

Basic changes are easy to implement and are wide reaching. They apply to almost all game mechanics.  These can often be implemented at the end of the design process. This is compared to intermediate changes which require some planning and effort to be considered. More often than not these principles of good game design. When designers center on these, they can make accessibility a core feature of their game.

Advanced changes are implemented for players that may have profound impairments or may require specific niche mechanics. These advanced changes could require designers to make larges and more significant changes to the entire design process.

Motor movement

We often don’t think about motor movement when thinking about table top games. But often, motor movement – specifically as we pick and manipulate pieces of a table top game – are fundamental aspects of why we play. That means that motor movement encompasses how users will interact and engage with the physical elements of the game.

This is also relevant rearranging board elements to be accessible and readable for players. Perhaps one of the most common concerns in table top design is the creation of the common board with text that can only be read for one angle. Compare this to more accessible table top games like Dead Man’s Cabal which has modular common board elements that can be re-arranged and moved around at will. 

Tactility also comes into play when addressing players’ motor movements.  You can see this with the modern chess set where each pieces feels unique to the touch. This makes easier to distinguish between a bishop and a knight.

These tactile sensations become even more important for vision impaired players. Particularly when dealing with paper money in games. While the number of modern board games that use paper money is now becoming fewer and far between; tactility could still remain a challenge. That can be addressed by using card board chits of different sizes that indicate different denominations.

The layout of cards also affects motor movement for those that may not be able to grasp or fan out a hand of cards. This is particularly relevant for card games that have important information on all different areas of a card. That means that a motor impaired player who cannot easily shuffle or manipulate cards makes the game harder and less accessible for these players.

Well designed cards on the other hand have all pertinent info near opposite corners of the card. This makes it easier for cards to be fanned and the content more accessible for players. Think about a standard deck of playing cards and where card information lies there.

Cognitive: thinking & perceiving

Cognition is another accessibility aspect that often gets overlooked but is incredibly important. Cognition is about how your players think and perceive your game through the functions that you’ve laid out for it. In table top games we are usually introduced to it via the printed rulebook – but this could be challenging to read for those who are dyslexic.

That means that both a game manual and a quick start guide could help make your game more accessible for players.  Quick start guides are becoming more present for games that often have many moving parts. Root is a good example of a game with both a rules manual for reference as a well as a guide for play. Both address issues that players with ADD or ADHD may have consuming large amounts of text.

Root is available on Amazon

Of course game rules and how to play videos are now becoming more prevalent. These address some of these challenges. Though for both video and printed media, it’s important to use simple and clear language to remain accessible. For manuals it is best to use simple and clear formatting for references and rules explanation to aid readability.  

To further aid readability, it’s also important to make sure that text is provided on a high contrast background – rather than on top of other illustrations where it might not be easily read. It’s also best to highlight important key words, phrases, or glossary items in your game that are referred to often.

It also helps for players to determine which elements of the game are interactive or variable based on different game conditions.  One of the games in my collection The Godfather: Corleone’s Empire does this well in indicating what spaces are available for players to place pieces given different player counts. This isn’t the only game that includes this but these types of indexes in design help to make the game more accessible.

The Godfather: Corleone’s Empire is available on Amazon

Other additional touches that help smooth the player experience is to ensure that player aids are inclusive of different components in a game. This is especially helpful for games that have asymmetric player starting abilities. A cheat sheet that summarizes others’ abilities is incredibly useful. You can even go one step further and use necessary game components like player screens in Roll for the Galaxy and Keyflower to double as these player aids.

Roll for the Galaxy is available on Amazon

Keyflower is available on Amazon

Vision and sight

Vision is perhaps one of the most talked about accessibility items by table top designers. Though, it’s important to note that vision isn’t totally binary. Someone could have poor or limited eye sight which limits their interaction. This could come from players with cataracts, glaucoma, or other issues affecting their sight.

Of course visually based games won’t be totally 100% compatible to the visually impaired. Though this limitation could be played with. Games like Nyctophobia play with this aspect of sight and how players engage with the game.

Nyctophobia is available on Amazon

Though for most games with visual elements it often is the best case to provide all relevant and critical information on cards and components in as large as font as possible.  This can often be combined with specific symbols that differentiate player elements that are not just based on color.

While sighted players don’t often think about color accessibility; it’s often best practice to concentrate on how other color blind players may see the game. Relying on color alone might be easier in the meantime. But making sure that there are considerations made for how players will visually perceive the game are necessary measures to take.

Hearing and speech

Hearing is one way that information is communicated to players. Mostly this makes sense in video and digital games. But has applications in table top gaming as well. Consider high player interaction games such as Cosmic Encounter and Empires where table talk, negotiation, and communication are important. How are considerations made for players who have hearing and speech difficulties. Is there another way for them to interact?

Cosmic Encounter is available on Amazon

In addition, hearing and speech can influence design choices the same way that Nyctophobia does with vision and sight. Perhaps game designs can take into account certain players must communicate via speech and others via writing to pass along information. These changes provides accessibility consideration for players as well as a wider choice on difficulty levels.

Empires is available on Amazon

Economic accessibility

Economic accessibility is one of those considerations that may not often be included in concerns. After all, some games don’t even have a large enough margin to make their publishers or designers much money. But there is a concern with over producing games with miniatures, metal coins, and neoprene mats that may address these economically accessible concerns.

For many, board gaming is a luxury hobby. Players treat their games as such. But when addressing economic accessibility; designers and publishers must also think about price as a discriminating factor. How does the pricing of their game and the production of their components affect the player experience and influence accessibility to a wider audience?

Continual improvement

Designing accessibility within games is a continuous and ever evolving dialogue. It’s something that doesn’t need to be addressed with just the designer; but can be brought up with players, publishers, graphic artists, and manufacturers as well.

Perhaps one of the most critical places to address player accessibility is with play testers. Here is where these main concerns can be brought up with actual consumers of the medium. It’s here where the designer and the player can have the most open dialogue in order to answer the most important accessibility question:  how can I play this game?

Takeaways

This article addressed how accessibility affects the player experience. We dove deeply into why accessibility challenges make some games the “wrong” kind of difficult for players. This article addressed accessibility as design considerations for the widest and most diverse audience. The article covered designing with accessibility in mind from the start as well as different types of accessibility changes made in game design. Those changes include accessibility addressing motor movement; cognition; vision; hearing; and economics. The article closed on how designers can use accessibility to continually improve their practice and design.

This article was about accesibility in games.  To learn more about gamification, check out the free course on Gamification Explained.

If you have enjoyed this article – consider getting yourself lifetime access to Dave’s Games-Based Learning Digital Library containing all of the content from the past two Games-Based Learning Virtual Conferences; past webinars and courses he’s created; as well as his complete back catalogue of articles; podcast episodes; and videos. And more content is being added all the time.

Readers of Ludogogy can get a $50 discount on this valuable resource by using this link.

The post Accessibility in Games first appeared on Ludogogy.

And that’s why I like to try and come at it from a gameful perspective. The primary reason being that games can make scenarios less scary and allow us to be more curious and creative instead of overwhelmed. The secondary reason being that games can externalise our thought processes which makes the job at hand feel much more manageable. Thirdly it helps us to see things differently, something we often need to do with writing a CV and getting out of our own head!

I’m going to take you through a case study about how we used Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) to rewrite a CV in a coaching space.

Rob* was in a job that he hated. He worked in the IT department and after 8 years there, people still didn’t get his name right. He felt undervalued, dejected and frustrated that he wasn’t being seen. It was a tough environment and his outlook wasn’t overly positive about the ‘what next’. As a result, the idea of updating his CV felt demoralising and uninspiring; he didn’t resonate with having any achievements in his role and he couldn’t see how his work would be relevant to getting out of his company and to what he really wanted to do – journalism.

Rob hadn’t shared a lot of what was happening for him at work to his friends and family as he was embarrassed about how he was being treated. It also really affected his mood which meant that thinking about it caused him to shut down. However, he wanted to make a change and decided to try out coaching, a safe space where he could share and explore how to improve his work life. One day, off the back of a coaching session with me, we identified that Dungeons and Dragons was a favorite game of his, primarily for the character creation, story arc and quests. A somewhat random fact but one that suddenly triggered in motion a connection between games and identity and ultimately, writing his CV.

For those that don’t know, a character sheet in D&D is something every player creates in order to play the game. This character sheet is essentially a CV for the adventurer world – it informs you (and reminds you!) of what inspires your character, what has affected them in the past, what their strengths are and what they believe in. It brings to life all the things your character cares about and as a result, you understand them which in turn informs the way you respond and react in the game when it comes to decision making.

And so, when we started to apply a new language to Rob’s CVs and saw it with a lens of third person creativity, a whole new world opened up. We started to layer the terminology and the awareness of Rob’s experiences to his CV. In short, we created a character sheet.

This was powerful for a few reasons:

1. We named his character. This allowed him to step outside of himself.
2. The character was something he could draw and therefore visualise. They held artifacts and wore amour that represented his values and his strengths. He started to feel a connection to them which meant he was kinder to himself.
3. It gave space to acknowledge what he already had to take his next steps.
4. It clarified what his quest was and therefore what skills he either needed to add to his repertoire or where he needed to put his focus.
5. When things had creative names and title, it made it feel much more fun which meant that he felt much more compelled to take action
6. He could redefine his identity – he was no longer what people at work made him feel – he designed himself in his own world where he could start to understand himself and make positive change.

Once we started mapping out the character sheet, it opened a floodgate of realisations. From here, the resistance to writing and updating his CV was reduced – he had a whole host of notes about who he was and what he wanted and he felt confident about translating them into CV speak. Through games, we had found a new way for him to identify with himself. And not only that, he had fun doing that!

Whilst a D&D character sheet can sound very specific, the concept of externalising your experience is a common coaching concept. Take a look at this character sheet template and see what identity comes out for you!

*Not their real name

The post Rewriting a CV through games – a case study first appeared on Ludogogy.

Since this umbrella category is defined not in terms of goals (e.g. special education) or subject (e.g. STEM education), but in terms of a tool, it includes several already recognized or emerging forms. Some of the main types, without being exhaustive, are:

• Simulations (including military exercises, mock trials, business or medical simulations, etc.)
• Dramatic methods originating from Jacob L. Moreno (in particular: sociodrama, bibliodrama, playback theatre)
• Applied drama/theater methods (e.g. Drama in Education, process drama, improv-based education, Rainbow of Desire, Rollenspielpädagogik, etc.)
• Various role-playing exercises in corporate training
• Various initiatives arising from hobby/leisure games (e.g. edularp, educational tabletop role-playing, some serious games, some gamified classroom, etc.)

The Rainbow of Desire by Auguste Boal is available on Amazon

The pedagogical benefits of role-playing can be summarised as the following: Role-playing persons are acting and learning as a more open, more persistent, more courageous, and more experimental version of themselves.

Role-playing sensitizes you!

One of the most researched psychological features of role-playing is its sensitizing effect. The phenomenon known as the “role-play effect” in psychology shows that role-playing can lead to a more significant attitude change than simply communicating information. Role-playing leads to a change of perspective: We take on a specific point of view and become more sensitive and empathetic as a result.

Related research has also shown that we are more likely to embrace opposing views if we act them out and then become informed about them than if we do the reverse. This is utilized mostly by placing a role-playing exercise in the middle of a longer learning activity, between the briefing and debriefing phases. Role-playing is an ideal tool for eliminating preconceptions, processing vaguely familiar but complex information, and laying the foundations for further reflection.

Role-play empowers you!

In studying the effect of self-distancing, researchers have found that children are more persistent in repetitive tasks when they think of themselves in the third person E/3 (“Is Matt working hard?”) rather than in the first person (“How am I doing?”), and even more so when they identify themselves with a role model in the third person. In other words, children were found to be more focused and efficient when they approached tasks like “What would Batman do in this situation?” – hence the term “the Batman effect”.

Other researchers have found that forty percent of those who were treated as real pilots and asked to fly a military aircraft simulator experienced vision improvement, while none of those who were asked to pretend to be pilots and act out the task had improved vision. Recent research therefore suggests that immersion in ideal and positive roles can greatly enhance an individual’s performance, in contrast with simple pretend play.

Role-play enriches you!

Role-playing provides a strong alibi for experimentation and to break old patterns. It makes leaving one’s comfort zone easier, as it protects the self from shame. Many role-players feel empowered to behave in radically different ways, by using roles as a kind of mask to conceal that it is they who actually behave differently.

It is worth pointing out that the goal of many role-playing activities is not winning or being successful. As a result, it is optimal to experience tense situations, ethical dilemmas, and despised or seemingly suboptimal strategies without any real disadvantages or repercussions. In role-playing, we are free to theorize about encountered situations and to test our assumptions by trying out new behaviors. Experimentation with roles expands our role repertoire and develops players’ agency, personal versatility, and resilience. Role-playing also provides a method to explore and understand social structures or dynamic systems in the first-person mode, as a personal experience.

This is not to say, of course,  that role-playing is a cure-all. Nor does it mean that it is the best education tool – if it were, hopefully, everyone would be using it by now. Some of its long-established educational forms, such as Drama in Education, are proven to be effective in developing several key Lisbon competencies*, while more recent ones, such as the increasingly popular edularp movement, are currently building up evidence on their validity and reliability.

It will be exciting to see what the future brings in this field.

*The Lisbon Competencies are a set of skills and knowledge areas identified as essential for lifelong learning and personal development. They include: communication, information literacy, problem-solving, critical thinking, and self-directed learning. These competencies are intended to help individuals adapt to an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.

The post Role-play-based education first appeared on Ludogogy.

Serious games are games created from the ground up for teaching and learning. These also include games created for a social purpose outside of the traditional executions of games for entertainment.

Serious games can be incredible tools for teaching, learning, and education. They help players learn experientially though play in order to put concepts into use. Serious games provide learners with the opportunities to transform experience into knowledge.

So how should educators use serious games for teaching and learning? What are some serious games that exist now? How can educators integrate serious games into their curriculum, syllabi, and lesson plans?

This article will review and define serious games. A brief history of serious games will be shared along with some of the best reasons for using serious games in teaching and learning. The impact and ramifications of using serious games in the classroom will be discussed as well as the role that educators play in integrating serious games in their practice.

Several historical serious games will be discussed in detail and include war games and the Kriegsspiel; business simulations; and other aspects of gamification; games-based learning and applied games. Serious game play constitutes experiential learning. Therefore, active debriefing will be discussed in depth and a detailed approach will be shared for how educators can and should integrate these games into their teaching practice.

What are serious games?

Simply put serious games are games that are created for purposes other than entertainment. We may have first discovered gaming from the fun and excitement that we derive from it. Serious games take these outcomes and pairs it with learning outcomes in order to help the player and learner achieve a specific educational outcome. Therefore, serious games’ primary objective is not to entertain the player but rather to help them achieve a specific learning outcome.

In more granular terms, serious games are meant to promote some sort of behavior change from their learning outcomes. This change can come about through applications of learning that arise from play. Otherwise it could arise from players’ empathetic perspectives of others’ simulated through game play. In any case, serious games ultimately improve players, learners, and users through play.

Current applied serious games are used and implemented through an applied curricular methodology. This means that serious games aren’t played in a vacuum. Rather, serious games are used in tandem with play, review, discussion, and debriefing in order to help players achieve their learning outcomes.

How were serious games created?

Games have been around for thousands of years. Serious games came about from the development of using games as teaching and learning tools. Serious games go back hundreds of centuries prior to the more popular use of games-based learning for teaching, training, and education.

Some of the earliest games like chess were often relied upon in order to teach principles of warfare.  We see more contemporary applications of this with games like America’s Army which served as both an abstraction of infantry warfare as well as a marketing and recruitment tool.

But why were games first relied upon as tools for teaching and learning? It’s because games states are more easily provide an overview and abstraction of different simulations and scenarios. Reality possesses many details and fine distinctions that may be irrelevant to the situation at hand. However, the player experience of games provides a specific, detailed, and nuanced approach to teaching and learning through different activities, challenges, tasks, and assignments often under the guise of game terms like missions, scenes, and levels.

This specific approach – combined with a more accessible appeal of games – made them excellent tools for teaching and learning. Especially since games could be as an experiential form of education since knowledge is created from game play rather than shared didactically through lectures, seminars, or videos.

Why use serious games?

Games, game design, and game development have a storied and intertwined history with serious games. However, serious games also excel with catering to the player experience. That’s because these games are experienced at a pace and involvement at the discretion of the player.

All of this is due to player interaction, feedback, the feedback loop, and intrinsic motivation. The combination of these factors entice, empower, and enable students to continue playing, engaging, and experimenting with games in an experiential feedback loop. Such an engagement makes games an evolving and customizable tool for player learning.

Lastly, a serious game doesn’t always need to be played seriously. Serious games can still elicit fun and enjoyment from players. Doing so ensures that the player experience is a positive one, which supports and enables future play.

Serious games’ impact on learning

Additionally, serious games’ have a positive impact on learning, motivation, and learning motivation when applied by educators to learners.  They are able to more fully and immersively demonstrate concepts and applications in ways that traditional didactic education cannot.

This is often most realized in cognitive and affective learning outcomes. These are often most closely related to traditional educational learning outcomes that change attitudes, motivation, and values of students. However, serious games can also teach behavioral competencies. The results of which also change learners’ behaviors when using serious games for teaching and learning.

There are downsides to using serious games in the classroom. Often, students who are accustomed to playing many games for entertainment will focus more on game play and game elements rather than the outcomes that such game play provides.  However, educators can use player involvement as a way to continue to spur interest and intrinsic motivation for learners to engage and play.

Ultimately, serious games represent another tool for educators to use and adapt for the classroom. The results of which emphasize the development and more widespread use of gaming for teaching and learning.

Teaching with serious games

Often, one of the more salient aspects to teaching with serious games is that they break the traditional rigid teaching structure of didactic education.   This is where educators present information for students to consume and ultimately develop understanding.  We see this most frequently in a lecture based classroom.

Serious games approach teaching and learning outside of a didactic approach, and instead encourages learners and players to experiment and play. This results in a process where players develop the necessary skills in order to progress in the game and ultimately achieve the designer’s and educators’ outcomes.

Serious games achieve this by combining learning strategies, curricular structures, and formal game elements in order to teach specific skills for players to create their own knowledge. Here, serious games represent conceptual and mechanical relationships within a dynamic environment that can be changed and augmented by the player thorough their own agency. The results of which end when players achieve stated learning outcomes.

Serious games can and do incorporate a wide spectrum of abstraction versus fidelity. However, some of the most popular serious games rely heavily on content developed from realistic situations. This is due to the need for learners to more easily identify and apply outcomes to necessary applications.

Despite this, all great games and serious games encourage and influence the development of cognitive flow for learners. The creation of this flow state is a result of the observation and keen development of relational awareness between game elements and their outcomes. Those relationships can be highly representative of their real world counterparts. However, with serious games they never explicitly have to be.

Ultimately serious games are meant to elicit a change in learners’ perceptions, applications, and outcomes of their learning. Therefore, it’s important that serious games actively include and represent the learners themselves in an identifiable form (or avatar) so that the relationship between themselves and their expected outcomes and applications are more clearly defined.

Wargames and Kriegsspiel

One of the earliest and most widespread applications of serious games for teaching and learning was the Kriegspeil (or “wargame” in German). With a storied history, the Kriegsspiel was used to teach military leaders tactics and strategies by representing armies and military units in scaled miniature on a physical table top. Its military applications goes beyond what can be contained in this article; however its use of abstraction and simulation is what cemented its future use for teaching and learning.

It’s success was great enough that officer training often involved frequent use of the Kriegsspiel for teaching and learning military and combat doctrine in the 19th century. Despite this, the Kriegsspiel was not run the same way we think about other table top games and educational games that we know and use today. Rather, players’ actions were arbitrated by a referee, umpire, or judge who collected and collated player actions in order to resolve them within the game. This role is most similarly seen with the “dungeon master” of table top role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons.

Fidelity was on the side of Kriegsspiel, as further iterations of the game took into account other actions and activities which could befall military leaders in actual live conflict. Those included surprise attacks, supporting lines, and point defense.

The Kriegsspiel has gone onto spur multiple successors for other table top war games such as Warhammer 40k, Star Wars Imperial Assault, and Star Trek Attack Wing to name a few. Likewise, the use of an impartial third party to moderate and referee games can be seen in many iterations of modern live role-playing games.

This war gaming simulation’s humble beginnings has indeed grown and evolved past its original intent for training military leaders for the conflicts they are yet to fight. However, the focus on simulation and fidelity is one that we see in other aspects of serious games such as business simulations.

Business simulations

Businesses often rely on simulations for teaching and learning because of its high fidelity to real world and application and problem solving. Simulations represent the closet possible thing to reality without the loss or risk of actually carrying out business actions.

Therefore, these business simulations exist within the realm of active and experiential learning like other forms of games-based learning. As such, participants in business simulations are both behaviorally and cognitively active as they play and experiment with the simulation in order to test and attempt to accomplish different outcomes.

Perhaps one of the most common business simulations is that of the Stock Market Game which many high school students participate in while learning about economics. The Stock Market Game makes it so that individual students can try their hand at investing in different publicly traded companies in order to determine if their predictions about future business success pan out.

As such, simulations such as these can be highly effective at engaging and motivating students due to their high touch and experiential approach. Here, students experience an active and closely tied feedback loop to their initial input and investments in order to see the ultimate effect on their portfolios.

Business simulations grow and evolve from the fidelity provided in the Kriegsspiel as a way for learners to experience different problems and scenarios in which they must apply decision making and problem solving methodology to overcome the challenge. The results of which encompass specified learning outcomes established by the instructor in order for students to achieve these goals.

Gamification, games-based learning, and applied games

While the Kriegsspiel represents one of earliest uses of simulation for teaching and training; and business simulations represent commercial applications of the same for business outcomes; the breadth and scope of games for learning is much wider than these two applications.

Games-based learning includes using established games for teaching and learning as well as the use; creation; and implementation of serious games for education and development. These applications don’t need to be narrowly applied such as with war games and business case studies. Rather, aspects of gamification and games-based learning can apply the use of these practices in other venues.

Such is the case with serious games that were created with outcomes other than entertainment in mind. There have been many cases of such games; but perhaps the most popular and successful of which include the following.

Darfur is Dying was first released in April 2006 and represented the journalistic spirit of exposing the truth behind the humanitarian crisis of the war in Darfur. The game provided a platform that reached over 800,000 players in five months and approaches social change through the medium of games.

Likewise the game World without Oil’s tagline: “Play it – before you live it” provided a simulation of how a future oil crisis might affect individuals by representing changes that may occur in their area. This was an alternate reality game (ARG) that lasted for 32 days between April and June 2007. It provided the very real social impact of helping individual players anticipate problems of a world without oil.

Lastly, the game Superbetter was the brainchild of Jane McGonigal. After suffering a concussion in 2009, she experienced the negative consequences of depression and suicidal thoughts. While recovering, McGonigal created the game “Jane the Concussion Slayer” which she designed to help treat her condition (as well as help keep her occupied). Building off of the success of this game she renamed it Superbetter and applied it to help other people achieve their own goals and overcome obstacles.

Active debriefing

Educators are free to choose how they use games, gamification, serious games, learning games, or games-based learning. However, the application of any of these approaches requires learning through experience or experiential learning. As such, educators should implement a practice of active debriefing no matter which method they choose to pursue. The results of active debriefing enables participants and players to connect activities and lessons they learned through game play with opportunities in the outside world.

Active debriefing is important because it requires individuals to focus on their own beliefs, assumptions, and values that arose from their experiences playing the game. It also requires individuals to manage how they may defensively react when re-examining and re-evaluating their own belief and value systems in order to make sense of these new experiences.

Ultimately the goal of instructor lead active debriefing is meant to ensure that learning is happening at an individual level. Specifically that experience is transformed into knowledge that can be shared and built upon. Therefore, active debriefing is best implemented at the end of an activity or experiences such as game play or games-based learning activities.

While more adult learners might be empowered to lead active debriefing sessions on their own; instructors may choose to rely on the following questions to help structure and guide their own active debriefing activities. Those sample questions include:

-What happened?

-Does what happened matter?

-How did you feel?

-Does this remind you of anything else you’ve experienced? If so, what and why?

-What have you learned?

-What will you do with what you’ve learned?

Takeaways

This article covered how to use serious games for teaching, learning, education, and development. It began with an overview of what serious games are as well as a short history of how they have been used in the past for teaching and learning.

The merits of using serious games for teaching were provided as well as the kind of impact that they can have on learners and instructors alike. Specific steps for teaching with serious games were discussed as well as some detailed historical examples. Those included war games and the Kriegsspiel, business simulations, and various applications of games-based learning and applied games.

This article closed on the process of active debriefing and how instructors should use it when paired with serious games for teaching and learning. Games-based learning is an experiential form of learning. Therefore, the active debriefing cycle is paramount in helping students make sense of their experience a well as connect specific game outcomes with targeted learning outcomes.

This article was about playing serious games.  To learn more about gamification, check out the free course on Gamification Explained.

If you have enjoyed this article – consider getting yourself lifetime access to Dave’s Games-Based Learning Digital Library containing all of the content from the past two Games-Based Learning Virtual Conferences; past webinars and courses he’s created; as well as his complete back catalogue of articles; podcast episodes; and videos. And more content is being added all the time.

Readers of Ludogogy can get a $50 discount on this valuable resource by using this link.

The post Learning by Playing Serious Games first appeared on Ludogogy.

Benefits of Games-Based Learning for languages

Games have the innate ability to make learning enjoyable and immersive. Not only that, but play is the way we all acquired our first language, and the ‘rewards’ we will have received for learning well -social (parental) approval, ‘winning’ over our peers (by having more capability), and increased agency (to communicate), are very similar to well-designed gamification.

By integrating games into language instruction, educators can tap into several benefits. Firstly, games increase student engagement by transforming the learning experience into a dynamic and interactive adventure. Learners become active participants, eagerly exploring linguistic challenges and developing their language skills. Furthermore, games promote motivation by providing clear goals, feedback loops, and a sense of achievement, spurring learners to persist and progress.

For instance, language learning apps like Duolingo and Memrise employ game mechanics to make the process fun and rewarding. These gamified platforms leverage points, levels, and rewards to motivate learners and track their progress. Duolingo’s ‘streak’ mechanic is particularly effective at keeping players on board. There are reported instances of people taking breaks from their own wedding receptions, to ensure they do not spoil their lengthy streak. You can read an analysis of Duolingo’s gamification (albeit from a few years ago) by Dirk van Diepen of Octalysis at https://ludogogy.co.uk/article/duolingo-review-how-to-apply-gamification-smarter/

Gamification Techniques in Language Learning

Platforms like FluentU and Rosetta Stone adopt gamification elements, but are sometimes criticised for relying too heavily on extrinsic motivation, and using simplistic mechanisms like points, badges and leaderboards.

So what does good gamification look like, and how could it be employed beyond digital apps, in say, face-to-face learning settings?  Here are some ideas.

• Quests and Missions: Designing language learning activities as quests or missions, where challenges are represented by milestones or levels, creates a sense of progress and achievement.
• Storytelling and Role-Playing: Integrating narrative elements into language learning, encourages the exercise of creativity, which in turn can give a sense of ownership and relevance to the content
• Collaborative Challenges: Foster collaboration and teamwork by introducing group challenges or competitions. This encourages students to work together, communicate in the target language, and support each other’s learning.
• Immersive Technology (or scenarios): Utilize interactive technology tools to enhance language learning. For instance, virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) can create immersive language environments, allowing students to virtually explore foreign cities or engage in language-specific scenarios.
• Story-based Progression: Frame language learning as a story-based progression, where students unlock new chapters or levels as they acquire new language skills. Each chapter can present them with challenges or tasks that require the application of their language knowledge. This approach adds a narrative element and keeps learners engaged and motivated.
• Time-based Challenges: Set time-based challenges or competitions where students race against the clock to complete language-related tasks or exercises. This injects an element of urgency and excitement into the learning process, motivating students to think quickly and apply their language skills under pressure.

Remember, when gamifying language learning in the classroom, it’s crucial to align the gamification elements with the curriculum objectives and ensure that they support language acquisition. The beating of ‘the game’ must not get in the way.

Speaking and Listening Skills through Interactive Scenarios

One powerful application of games-based learning is the improvement of speaking and listening skills. Immersive game scenarios provide learners with authentic contexts to practice their language skills. Through interactive dialogue options, voice recognition, and role-playing, learners can simulate real-life conversations. Language learning games like Lingua.ly (now defunct) and Tell Me More enable learners to engage in virtual conversations with virtual characters, enhancing their speaking and listening abilities. Such interactive game scenarios foster confidence, fluency, and cultural understanding. However, they can sometimes be let down by the technology they use, with some users reporting poor speech recognition among other problems.

Reinforcing Grammar and Vocabulary through Gamified Exercises

Games-based learning and gamification offer innovative ways to reinforce grammar and vocabulary acquisition. Language learners often find grammar exercises dull and monotonous. However, by transforming these exercises into gamified activities, learners can actively engage with language rules and structures. Platforms like Kahoot! employ interactive quizzes, timed challenges, and rewards to make grammar and vocabulary practice enjoyable. Gamified exercises not only consolidate language knowledge but also provide immediate feedback, allowing learners to identify areas for improvement and track their progress.

Cultural Understanding and Language Immersion – Virtual Worlds & Simulations

Language learning is not solely about vocabulary and grammar; it also involves understanding cultures and communities. Virtual worlds and simulations offer immersive environments where learners can explore different cultural contexts while practicing their language skills. Platforms like Second Life got on board early,although it is unclear whether this platform is still used much for language learning and Cambridge International (exam board) among others have designed immersive language learning environments in Minecraft Education Edition. These experiences promote cross-cultural awareness, enhance language comprehension, and facilitate authentic communication. CultureAlley, when it started, took a different approach to immersion, taking its cue for the vocabulary you want to learn from what was written on your Facebook wall. It’s offering now includes live classes, many different games, and is embracing the opportunities of AI.

AI is probably going to be revolutionary in the way it impacts learning in the next months and years.

Some more examples of language learning games

WordBrewery: This game focused (the project has, sadly, closed) on vocabulary acquisition by presenting learners with sentences from real-world sources, such as news articles or literature. Players must identify and understand the meaning of unfamiliar words in context, gradually expanding their vocabulary while enjoying the game’s immersive interface.

Muzzy BBC: Designed for young language learners, Muzzy BBC combines captivating, animated stories with interactive language learning activities. Children can engage with the characters, explore different language environments, and practice vocabulary, listening, and comprehension skills.

Language Guardians: a family card game for all ages, this can be played in whatever language is chosen for a particular session.  Playing a bit like Uno, it works to help language acquisition through repetition and practice and through challenge and social learning.

LingoBee: LingoBee is a mobile app that utilises crowdsourcing and social networking to gather material for ’situated’ language learning from its users. So learners are exposed to curated material, and can comment and rate that material, and learn from each other in relevant contexts.

Language Hunters: This interactive game combines language learning with cultural immersion. Language Hunters employ traditional games and activities to teach (and preserve) indigenous languages, emphasizing oral communication and community engagement. Players learn by actively engaging in conversations, imitating sounds, and playing language-based games.

Limitations and Challenges

While games-based learning and gamification offer exciting opportunities, it’s essential to be aware of potential limitations and challenges. Firstly, selecting appropriate games and gamified elements aligned with learning objectives can be a complex task. Educators must ensure that games facilitate language acquisition rather than distract from it. Additionally, technical limitations, such as the availability of devices or internet connectivity, can pose challenges for implementing games-based learning and gamification, especially in resource-constrained environments. Moreover, measuring the effectiveness of games-based learning can be challenging, as it requires robust assessment methods that go beyond traditional exams or quizzes. Assessing language proficiency and progress within game-based contexts may require innovative evaluation approaches.

Despite these challenges, the benefits of games-based learning and gamification in language teaching are undeniable. They have the potential to transform language learning experiences, engage learners on a deeper level, and foster a love for languages. By embracing these approaches, educators, learning designers, and workplace learning facilitators can create dynamic and interactive language learning environments that resonate with their students.

To Conclude

Games-based learning and gamification provide a fresh and effective approach to language teaching and learning. By harnessing the power of games, educators can captivate learners’ attention, enhance motivation, and promote active participation. Whether through dedicated language learning games or the gamification of traditional language exercises, games offer unique opportunities to reinforce grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening, and cultural understanding.

The post Play, Learn, Speak: How Games Transform Language Learning first appeared on Ludogogy.

In this game, each player must use a combination of critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills in order to be successful. Each player has to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each decision, and must collaborate with other players to acquire resources and build settlements. In the end, the player who is able to use their skills to make the most strategic decisions and effectively communicate with their fellow players is the winner. 

Settlers of Catan is available on Amazon

Games such as Settlers of Catan are a great example of how SEL skills can be used to make a difference to our interpersonal experiences. These skills can be invaluable in a variety of real-world situations, from classroom projects to business meetings. To dive deeper into this context, we interviewed Manik and Chelsea from Tomo Club for this month’s edition of Ludogogy. Tomo Club uses social games to teach skills in video meets to K-12 students. These games and meets are moderated by trained professionals who keep an eye on the activity and ensure students make progress on their learning goals.

Q. What is the importance of SEL skills in today’s world, according to you?

A. It is essential that the new generation of students is equipped with SEL skills, also called 21st century and life skills. These skills, such as collaboration and critical thinking, are necessary for today’s complex world. They are integral in helping young people to learn how to interact with others, how to manage their emotions, and how to develop self-confidence and resilience. They provide a foundation for success in academic, professional, and personal domains. Without them, the new generation will struggle to compete in the global economy and reach their full potential.

Q. How has the importance of critical thinking in particular changed recently?

A. Today, there are tools like ChatGPT that have sorted out small-scale tasks, enabling us to focus on larger areas like decision-making and strategy. Now the crucial part is to know how to use such resources, which is where critical thinking plays a role. In the near future, more emphasis will be placed on creativity, teamwork, and problem solving – from the workplace to the personal domain. It’s important to figure out what to do and align people to achieve goals – as the “how” behind such work is getting simpler with more resources to the modern person.

Q. Usually game-based learning has a challenge of being assessed and tested conclusively. How do you present progress and test learning in students?

A. We use an elaborate, descriptive rubric that is broken into competencies, subskills, and even further into 40 subskills. Each of these subskills have descriptors that can be used to evaluate and understand individual performance. In order to do this, the teacher and teaching assistant must sit together and discuss each child’s performance and provide remarks, as well as recommendations. This ensures that the evaluations are thorough and that no student is overlooked.

The teacher and teaching assistant actively engage with the students to provide guidance and support. This includes providing feedback and advice on different strategies, helping the student stay motivated, and generally being a mentor. 

Q. Who are the people involved in delivering an experience like yours?

A. We have a small, lean team that starts with the development of a suitable curriculum, then progresses to game design, art, development, followed by rigorous testing. This process begins with adults as well as children, in different geographical locations to gauge reactions. Remarkably, although children have different contexts and curricula, their behaviors and preferences for fun in games remain surprisingly similar – unlike adults. This has implications for game design as it indicates that despite geographical differences, children’s responses to games can be consistent.

Q. Games are synonymous with fun. It’s easy to give feedback that praises someone for their activity in a game. But how do you give critical feedback that addresses negative behaviors, considering children like to play games specifically for fun?

A. It’s the feedback on what we did wrong that is more beneficial in learning. Our moderators are highly trained in providing feedback that is constructive in nature. If turns are broken in the conversation, for example, it is important to give specific feedback to the individual. 

A report is shared with the parents of the student so that they can better understand the feedback. There is a section called Collaboration and Action, where resources and videos are provided to both parents and children to watch together. This helps all parties understand the feedback in a deeper way and encourages an interactive experience.

You can take a demonstration of the experience in Play And Learn events organized by Tomo Club on alternate Saturdays, where educators, parents, and curious minds try games like Secret Santa and Crisis Crew :

Q. What would be your advice to someone wanting to use games in their classrooms?

A. To integrate games effectively, our advice is to consider the context of the learner. For working with adults, providing specific, exact instructions is usually best. With kids, however, it can be tricky to give a lot of instructions, as this overwhelms them. The more we delay gratification, the better equipped the kids will be to manage stress. 

Understanding a game requires familiarity, so allow players time to get familiar with it. If a game is difficult, you can scaffold it, breaking it down into smaller, easier tasks, and then building on them as the learner progresses. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, learning SEL skills is crucial for personal and social development, and doing so in a social and fun way can make the experience even more effective and enjoyable. As evidenced by the various initiatives and programs offered by organizations like Tomo Club, engaging in activities such as games can help individuals cultivate skills like self-awareness, empathy, and communication. Incorporating SEL skills into social and fun activities can benefit individuals of all ages and backgrounds, leading to greater well-being and success in all aspects of life. The testimonials of participants in Tomo Club’s SEL programs also provide insight into this impact. Organizations like Tomo Club are making a significant difference in the lives of learners by providing opportunities to learn and grow in a socially engaging and enjoyable way. You can try these games and experiences in online events every alternate Saturday that you can register for here : https://lu.ma/gamesandeducation

The post Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) with Tomo Club first appeared on Ludogogy.

This article is adapted from a paper by Xavier Wilain (2022) Contrasting Students’ engagement during game based-learning. Paper presented at the Games and Serious Games Syposium, Geneva on 30 June 2022. Proceedings, p14-17. It has been made available to Ludogogy by M. Wilain.

Abstract

This research aims to measure students’ perception of their emotional engagement in game-based learning activities and compare them in regards to two types of games: a synoptic board game, Strategious© which has been created independently by the author and a diagnosis card game which the author adapted for one of the modules he is teaching at the Swiss Hotel Management School of Leysin, Switzerland.

Following a deductive approach within a pragmatic ontology, this is a case study of the Swiss Hotel Management School of Leysin.

Participants filled a questionnaire adapted from the Flow model (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) and the PENS framework (Ichaman, 2016), and cross findings were put in relation with Toda’s gamification taxonomy, published in 2019.

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is available on Amazon

The quantitative data collected by closed questions on a 1 to 5 Likert scale was analyzed using general proportions and cross-tabulations. The results showed players felt positive emotions as well as negative emotions with a board game. This was also confirmed by the PENS framework showing a better experience with the board game. Therefore, for game-based learning activities, serious board games can be qualified as emotional rollercoasters, whereas diagnosis card games can be qualified as emotional ice-breakers.

It was discovered that there were both generational and geographical variations in the emotional responses to the two games.

Context

This research assessed how participants perceived their emotional engagement during game-based learning activities, focusing on 2 game types. One game was a one-hour board game based on talent management, negotiation and strategic thinking. The second game was a 10-minute diagnosis card game on entrepreneurship, with famous entrepreneurs, their companies, and keywords from the module.

These games have been selected for this research because the author had already included them in one of his modules, called “Entrepreneurship in Events” in the final of the Bachelor of Arts in Hospitality and Events at the Swiss Hotel Management School, and he always wanted to know which type of game students preferred. The research was approved by the DEAN of the Swiss Hotel Management School.

Targeted issue

This research fits within a theoretical framework made from the model of Flow developed by Csikszentmihalyi (1990), which is defining eight emotions people feel when confronted by a task. The optimal emotional state has then been defined as the state of Flow. Jesse Schell (2015) further developed this theory by applying it to game design, saying that in order to keep a player engaged, a good game should constantly adapt the difficulty of the task to the evolving player’s skills. These two authors made a great contribution to the theoretical framework of serious games, but Melker (2015) suggested that more specific comparative researches were still needed to precisely differentiate between types of games. However, even if the theory of Flow developed by Csikszentmihalyi (1990) was thoroughly applied to game design by Schell (2015), it has still never been used to measure players’ emotional engagement when playing a game. Therefore, in the search of an effective measurement, the author decided to associate the theory of Flow with the recognized measurement, called the “PENS framework”, as the “Player Experience Need Satisfaction” applied by Ichaman (2016) and presented here below in figure 1.

Findings and Proposed solution

There is indeed a clear preference for synoptic board games but these findings also confirmed the importance of having a clear purpose and aim to support the integration of such game-based learning activities and diminish the students’ anxiety, relying more specifically on Mitgutsch and Alvaro’s Game System (2012). Moreover, the warning given by Toda et al., (2019) about the need of defining a clear purpose to game-based learning applies more specifically to generation Z students if it concerns a synoptic board game, and more specifically to generation X students if it concerns a diagnosis card game.

In regard to students’ culture, a greater care and purpose is needed for Americans students in case of synoptic board games, and for Middle East students in case of diagnosis card games which can be used as ice-breakers. Finally, such game-based leaning activities have revealed to be more effective with European students, in driving their perception to their emotional engagement.

Relevant innovation

Concerning the tool used to collect relevant data, in the search of an effective measurement, the author decided to associate it with a recognised measurement in the name of the PENS framework, as the “Player Experience Need Satisfaction” applied by Ichaman (2016) and presented below in figure 2.

Concerning the results of this research, the students showed a general preference for synoptic board games such as Strategious© which was included in this research. Board games produce a greater play experience in game-based learning activities (Hardin et al, 2019; Huang et al., 2019; Nakao, 2019; Sousa 2020). Going deeper, the author found that Autonomy and Relatedness were indeed more important for students when perceiving their emotional engagement when playing the board game than the card game. However, the research also revealed that students in general perceived a greater negative emotional engagement with synoptic board games. Therefore, the researcher has qualified game-based learning with a synoptic board game as an emotional rollercoaster with important emotional consequences on both sides. Furthermore, the diagnosis card game is safer although it generates less important emotional reactions from students, so it can be a relevant and safe emotional icebreaker.

Project outcomes & results

Therefore, the researcher qualified game-based learning with a synoptic board game as an emotional rollercoaster with important emotional consequences on both sides. Furthermore, the diagnosis card game is safer although it generates less important emotional reactions from students, so it can be a relevant and safe emotional icebreaker.

The cross-analysis revealed that students from X and Y generations  perceived greater positive emotions (Arousal, Flow, Control, Relaxation) than students from generation Z with the board game, who are genuinely accepting more easily this type of game-based learning. However, with a diagnosis card game, students from generation X were the ones perceiving less emotional engagement. The author then saw a confirmation of the idea that each generation has its own socio-psychological perception (Vlada, 2020).

American students were more critical towards the synoptic board game as the results showed 20% of higher negative emotions with this type of game-based learning activity. This contradicts the report of Metaari (2020) which shows that the American continent is the first customer of serious games in the world and suggests that Americans would be more used to such activities, also supported by Ferreira et al. (2016).

Conclusion

The researcher has qualified game-based learning with a synoptic board game as an emotional rollercoaster with important emotional consequences on both sides.

The diagnosis card game is safer although it generates less important emotional reactions from students, so it can be a relevant and safe emotional ice-breaker.

With a diagnosis card game, students from generation X were the ones perceiving less emotional engagement whereas American students were more critical towards the synoptic board game.

The researcher suggests further researches to be conducted with different types of games and bigger samples to be able to create and share more exhaustive guidelines on how to integrate all types of games efficiently in learning.

The post Card Games or Board Games? first appeared on Ludogogy.