- What are the challenges a team faces when working on an educational game? Each team member might have different priorities within game production. Content experts might want in depth background text, game designers want an interactive and compelling experience, while pedagogy experts believe it must be the ultimate teacher. The challenge is coordinating expertise and perspectives to create a final product that balances them all.
- In the case study team members vetoed each others game ideas, what were the scientist’s, pedagogy expert’s and designer’s issues? The game designer immediately dismissed game ideas proposed by the pedagogy expert and scientist because they did not constitute “a game.” The scientist immediately rejected many of the game designer’s ideas because the science was incorrect. The pedagogy expert didn’t like the idea of levels as it inhibited learning
- What did the team learn from play testing their prototypes?
- The scientist learned that extinct animals are not so intrinsically interesting that players will want to learn more about them naturally (solution: less educational information immediately provided rather than a lot of optional info)
- Levels were needed for motivation and maintained engagement
- A certain card mechanic was not adding to the learning benefit in replayability so it was substituted
- Reduced irrelevant information that distracted and decreased engagement
- When more customized feedback was provide to users, they felt more engaged and like they were learning more.
- How does play testing resolve conflicts among team members? Game testing is an objective way of proving what works and what does not. It actively tests each person’s perspective and proves its value.
2 Replies to “Educational Game Questions”
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I also think that playtesting can help you understand other team members’ perspectives as you can see how their point about something might have been a good alternative
The last question asks about how play testing resolves conflict…I completely agree, in the sense that play testing is essential towards progression. It’s gonna be tricky to get everything right on the first try, but through testing we can strive for fun playing experiences.