Game Design Tool Kit

The Game Design Tool Kit

Registered members of our website can now download the Game Design Tool Kit free of charge by clicking on the link to the left. Inquire about our Professional Development Inservice Training Sessions, Game Jams and Boot Camps…all built upon the foundation of the Game Design Tool Kit.

LEARNING BY DESIGN

Here’s our game design methodology in practice at the Stanford University Game Design Jam with our friends from The Lennon Bus:

Game design is an effective way to engage students in research, creative development, critical thinking, and collaborative skills development while supporting all of the 21st Century Skills. Our Game Design Tool Kit enables teachers to integrate game design activities across the curriculum to support students’ achievement of learning goals in a wide variety of subjects.

With an emphasis on iterative development, resources are segmented into four phases:

EXPLORE

Establish common gaming vocabulary and start the research process.

DISCOVER

Brainstorm, creative development, and early documentation.

CREATE

Paper prototype and sample art/audio asset development.

Play tests and concept “pitch”.

E FOR EVERYONE

The Game Design Tool Kit is flexible enough to be used in a variety of learning settings and within the framework of various spans of time.

Formal classrooms, informal after-school programs, clubs, or camps
Single classes or club sessions, or integrated into lessons and programs that span a week, quarter, or semester

Although best suited for students from Grade 5 through adult, resources can be adapted and simplified for younger students.

The Game Design Tool Kit has been designed to support conceptual game design and development activities independent of the need for software programming. Although not intended to be a primer for any specific game production tools or technical frameworks, it outlines strategies teachers can use to bridge conceptual development with technical implementation using a variety of tools and applications, such as Game Salad, Game Maker, Gamestar Mechanic, and Kodu, among others.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Our team has developed methods for demonstrating how to integrate the Game Design Tool Kit into a variety of learning settings and will launch a variety of special events and in-service activities during the 2012-2013 school year, including:

Week-long Game Design Boot Camps
Two- and three-day Game Jams
One-day standard or customizable In-Service Training Sessions

These events have been created to introduce teachers to the Game Design Tool Kit methodology, support comprehensive and successful implementation of the methodology in the classroom and to provide coaching strategies teachers can use to guide students through the game design process.