For the second time this week, I hopped on my computer and joined a group of people somewhere else. The other day, it was as part of a collaborative keynote address in New York. Last night, it was a Skype visit to Kathryn Trask’s classroom in New Zealand (we follow each other on Twitter). Her students are learning about video game design  by using Gamestar Mechanic (just as we do) and she wanted me to chat about the elements and importance of storyboarding. I was happy to do it, although the time difference was a little strange (it was today when I talked to them last night).

As I talked with her students, I tried to emphasize a few things around game design storyboarding:

• A storyboard is a map of ideas so you see the larger picture as well as the smaller segments
• While storyboards do not need to include every detail, they should conceptually show a story/narrative arc
• In game design, storyboard panels are a handy way of considering “levels” of a game
• The act of storyboarding flips you from seeing your game as the maker to envisioning the role of the player
• Just because you have a storyboard doesn’t mean you shouldn’t veer off when something better/more interesting comes along in the midst of design. Remain flexible

Later, I also shared a few resources that might be helpful:

• A post that I had done about students and their storyboarding during our gaming unit
• A write-up lesson plan overview that I did for Gamestar Mechanic
• And my own storyboard for the video game that I made as a mentor text for my students

It was pretty neat to jump into another classroom. Kathryn’s students asked some great questions and now, she has the challenge ahead of them to begin planning a game. Good luck!

Peace (in the sharing and connecting),
Kevin

I came across this odd game development site a few weeks ago called Game-O-Matic, in which you build a simple video game by providing the system with a “networked diagram” of ideas. (Sort of like a mind map). The software then constructs the game, which is a little difficult to play. But it is fascinating how the use of a diagram of ideas linked together can get transformed into a video game.

I created my game (called The Musician Game) along the lines of a musician, and the bonus points are notes and ideas while the penalty points are dissonance and critics. The idea is to keep growing the musician by feeding on the notes and ideas, and avoid the power suck of the dissonance and critics. This kind of game might be an interesting way to teach symbolic thought.

Give it a whirl:

Peace (in yet another game),
Kevin
PS — here is a tutorial:

Microsoft is celebrating the role of Atari (Pong, Asteroids, Breakout, etc.) in the video game history by launching an interesting site that showcases the old arcade games. Using HTML5, Microsoft is now offering a bunch of old games to the web browser.
But, also, they are providing some tools for game developers to build arcade games. I have not yet explored that end of the site, and wonder how much programming one has to know. But it is worth a look … (Note: the video becomes a shout-out to Microsoft, just so you know)
Peace (in the games),
Kevin

I updated this chart a bit for an upcoming presentation.

Peace (in the connections),
Kevin

I’m developing an Ed Talk around video game design in the classroom and found this series of funny clips of Conan O’Brien, trying to game (and failing hilariously). Here, he chats about Minecraft, a game that vexes me but which my students love.

Peace (in the game),
Kevin

One of the reasons I am taking part as a ‘student’ in the Gamestar Mechanic Summer Learning Program is to understand better how to give feedback to my students during our video game design unit. This morning, I received some fantastic feedback on my game (shared here yesterday) called The Odyssey of Tara. (I invite you to play the game).

Notice the balance of positive to advice, and also, how detailed the comments are. As the game designer, I can tell that not only did my teacher play my game, but they were making notes about each level, and offering up their own experiences as an outside player and as a game designer. That kind of duel views is helpful when creating a video game.

Now, I need to step back myself and see the game through their eyes.

Peace (in the game),
Kevin