Assignment 3.1

OK! You’ve laid a foundation for the last few weeks - now it’s time to start making your game. For the next 4 weeks (Unit 3 and Unit 4), you have lots of room to make passes at creating your own learning games! Take a look at the feedback you’ve received, find teammates if you are interested, and start designing and building prototypes of your game. Create paper versions or digital versions, and try to collect feedback on the forums, as well as from your friends and family in real life.

Deliverable: A publicly viewable and if possible playable version of your prototype(s) with documentation about the following:

• target audience 

The target audience is working adults with the average age about 35 years old. They are students who typically have gone to work all day and have family and personal responsibilities and then attend class between 6 and 10 PM at night. 

• learning objectives

The learning objectives include the idea of learning humanities and culture but in a more interesting and informed manner. By playing a game they are no doubt putting in more time but are much more active in the learning objective is for them to be engaged in their own learning.

• the "fun" in your topic
The fun in the topic is that students will be engaged, will interact more with their peers, and will follow avenues of culture that are unique to the gameplay of the individual student.
• your reasons for choosing certain game mechanics
I am choosing the mechanics of the game to include the five countries represented that closely parallel the actual Renaissance cultural conditions. they start off as more or less equal but as in the Renaissance the countries need to develop their cultural production and diplomatic achievements.
• your experiences developing, testing & revising your prototype

Several points can be made in developing, testing, and revising this prototype. Based on feedback that I received the game needs to be set towards diplomatic and cultural interactions and as a humanities class an emphasis must be placed on those aspects in particular.

When you're designing, don't lose sight of the goal of your game and what you want the learner to get out of it.  When you're prototyping, think about the following: 

I want the students to get out of it more than what they expect. It is not only cultural appreciation but the goal is to understanding how resources must be artfully balanced and allocated towards the winning goal cultures have decided upon.

• What is most important for you to know? With each prototype, you should be trying to figure out a few specific things - is it more fun with more players? Does adding “points” make it more fun? Are these mechanics balanced well? If you change too many things between prototypes, it can be difficult to tell which of your changes are working and which aren’t.

It is most important for me to understand how someone can pick up the game fairly easy to begin but then to actually learn from it as well. I have found through testing that about five is a good number; however, I would like at some point to try the online and connected version of the game. Adding elements does not really contribute given the fact that during the game successes or failures are continuously looped back for the learner to grasp. Yes, the mechanics are soundly conceived.

• How can your classmates play this game? It’s easy if you are working in GameBlox to share your games in the forums, and other digital protoypes may be shareable through sites like Dropbox etc. If want feedback on a paper prototype, consider making a .pdf file that they can print and also make a video so they can understand your prototype as well as possible.

Classmates can play at least some version of the franchise Civilization in fact one responder went to FreeCiv to at least be introduced to the concept of the game. It is an early free and online version of the game.

• Are people learning? We’ll be addressing this question more formally in Units 4 and 5, but for now - what do you think? Are people using the game’s language to describe their moves and decisions? Are players getting a better understanding of your topic as they get better at the game? Ask people what is confusing to them, and see how you can improve it.

Students are learning and having fun with it. In a testing environment several students had just taken a previous course--HUM111--but found my prototype for HUM112 much more engaging and interesting. Yes, they are using the game's language because you find the units produced are referred to and shorthand versions of gameplay introduced into their interaction. The players are better understanding how cultural production develops as they advance in the game which is one of the important learning objectives. The confusions can be cleared up as they game facility in gameplay.

Remember to take a look at everyone else’s games! Think of this as a really big studio class. A large part of your learning is going to take place not just by watching videos or reading articles, but in your interactions in the forums. Debate, ask questions, and provide constructive feedback!

Finally, don’t forget to have fun! There’s a lot to think about in this course, but you’re making games, so enjoy it!

Guidance for Peer Feedback

Provide feedback to at least three participants whose posts appear below yours. If those participants have already received feedback, look for participants who have not received any. Follow the Peer Review Feedback guidelines and consider the following:

• Give your overall impressions of the game. Were there aspects of the game that you think worked especially well? How can you help the participant improve his or game? You might suggest a change/addition or ask a question.
• Does the game seem aligned to the learning objectives? Are there ways the participant might improve alignment?
• How did the participant's prototype influence your own thinking?