Environments, Puzzles, and Levels: What Games Designers Know That Educators Don’t

Susan Maunders · Deborah Todd · Dabney Standley · Bob Hone

Thu., June 11, 2:00–3:00, Browsing Library (2nd floor, West Central)

When game designers begin to brainstorm a new game, some of their first questions are “Where is it set?” and “What is the environment?”. When educators design curriculum, they rarely ask these questions because their assumption is that the setting is the classroom. Of course, GLS participants know that it no longer has to be this way. As learning goes online, learning environments can be anywhere — and should be — but how can it be done right from the start?

What is the benefit, if any, of beginning curriculum design with a similar “where is it set?” question? And, why not continue on past queries about the game environment to ask about the puzzles and levels that are planned? Would curriculum design benefit from this brainstorming approach? Would learning environments be more compelling if they began with the design of levels, puzzles, or adaptive assessment?

We are veteran game designers, an educational media designer, and an educational researcher, all who would like to contrast the way game designers begin to build a game with how educators design curriculum. One of us has volunteered to act as translator between the groups pointing out the commonalities and differences across the worlds of game design vs. curriculum design. We anticipate a lively debate about how to make compelling worlds for learning.