ISLT 7384: GameStorming and Story Building a Game for Learning

This presentation aligns with the GameStorming attribute of the WSSG (Why So Serious Games) Academy.

In ISLT 7384: Designing Games for Learning, we will design a game based on the best practices of game design and learning principles. This week, we started with GameStorming and Story Building activities aimed at helping us to explore possible game ideas and plots. 

GameStorming 

Prior to the activities, I determined I want to create a narrative game to highlight in my professional portfolio as an instructional designer. I want the game to be useful to early- to mid-career instructional designers (perhaps even those who recently graduated from an instructional design program).

My topic ideas include:

• accessibility 
• content curation
• learner-centered instructional content 
• open educational resources (OER)
• copyright

Accessibility and content curation felt like the best options, so I used accessibility to complete the GameStorming activity. The Idea Cards activity asked us to choose random nouns, adjectives, and verbs and rearrange them into sentences (Image 1). I appreciate how the exercise opens up creativity.

The second GameStorming activity asked us to select a word and go deeper. It felt more helpful for brainstorming, and I came up with some good “seeds” to plant to the forest (Image 2).

Overall, the GameStorming activities helped refine my original ideas for a game.

Story Building

As a designer and writer, I’m experienced with creative and critical writing techniques; however, narrative design requires another layer of consideration. I appreciated how each Story Building activity helped us plot a story. I especially found the alternatives and falling action section helpful for thinking of branching (Image 3). As I practiced the activities, I focused on how the plot could be complemented by elements of the hero’s story as well (Kapp, 2012, p. 43-44). 

During the exercise, I sometimes wanted to jump into creating a mindmap of the branching or write potential scenes and sequels based on Woodward (2014). However, outlining the plot provides the foundation which allows us to design a better story. Overall, the Story Building activities helped me to consider the elements necessary to design and develop an engaging game for learning.

References

Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. Pfeiffer.

Woodward, K. (2014, June 24). How To Write A “Choose Your Own Adventure” Story. [weblog post]. Karen Woodward.