Those who are regular readers here know that I advocate working alongside students as writers and creators when doing projects. Last year, as part of our first video game design unit, I created the following video game. Since they were doing a science theme, I wanted to do a science theme. But I was wary of doing a game too close to what theirs should be built around (geology concept), so I decided to do a game about famous women scientists. It would also give them a lesson in recognizing the achievements of women in scientific discovery.
I spent time this weekend playing my game (and realizing how challenging it can be … but not impossible!). I don’t think I will change much about it, but I did want to share out some things in Gamestar Mechanic that show how helpful the site is for young game developers like my students.
First, the game:
Next, the site provides useful stats so that you can determine the level of challenge based on actions of players:
Finally, a new tool in Gamestar is the ability to create visual level maps. Here are the three levels of my game:
Peace (in the science of the game),
Kevin