Experience Points
On today’s episode we’ll answer the question “What is an Orthogame?” Different people play different games for different reasons. Some of us play games to enjoy ourselves. I like to play games to socialize with others. Some people play games to win. Yet, some other people play games to learn and cooperate.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover socializing games. Games are powerful tools that can be used to help students achieve their learning outcomes. That is the focus of games-based learning. Many educators have relied on games, in whole or in part, to help their students grow.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover building soft skills with games. Games are capable of helping students learn any number of different skills. Likewise, simulations can be used to help students learn something more intuitively than they would from traditional classroom instruction.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover games for adult learning. Adult learning represents a substantial field of higher education. Though, in media and pop culture, they don’t often represent the quintessential college student.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover the decision space in games. One can say that decisions are the heart of many games. It’s why we play: to see the impact of our actions. As game designers; we want to empower players to live their fantasies through our games.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover core loops in games. The core loop is what most players engage with and remember when they are playing your game. The core loop is the most engaging and active element of your design. The core loop matters whether creating the next great video game; table top game; or serious game.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover abstraction in games. Abstraction is not something that we often think about deeply when we play games. Most of us play games for fun. That’s what most games are for. But abstraction is the heart of what makes games… games.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover achievements in games. Achievements in life are a way to commodify what we’ve accomplished. Some can say that achievements are the way that we commemorate a major life moment or event. But achievements in games are different. While we might recognize most of them occurring in video games; there are other ways to award achievements to players in games.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover point scoring in games. Scoring points is something that most people are familiar with in games. Scoring can be as easy as earning money in Monopoly or scoring the longest road in Settlers of Catan. But scoring points overall is just one method of giving feedback to players based on their actions. Points can be used for so much more when they are integrated with learning outcomes and a games-based learning approach to design.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover the User Experience. This episode is based on Celia Hodent’s post: Understanding the Success of Fortnite: A UX & Psychology Perspective. See the show notes or description for a link to the original article.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover Gaming with Motivation. Intrinsic motivation is one of the most powerful motivating factors for people. Intrinsic motivation is what keeps players playing. They play for the love of the game instead of for a particular reward. But what is intrinsic motivation? What is motivation in general?
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover Weaknesses of Games Based Learning. Games-based learning is a serious method for us to meet the needs of our students in way that is both engaging and impactful. However, there are still some limitations to games-based learning that need to be considered before educators can use it in practice.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover how we learn through games by making more mistakes. Mistakes happen to be just one part of life. They are something is common to anyone anywhere. We’ve all made mistakes at some point in our lives. Games are no different. In fact, games are hot beds for mistakes.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover the “flow state” we experience when playing games. Engaging in a state of “flow” is one of the most mesmerizing things that your players can do. They are engaged with your game. They are performing at the top of their ability. They are so engrossed that they begin to lose track of time.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover game dynamics. Dynamics and loops are some of the most important elements of your game design. When thinking about your game dynamics it’s important to consider the following two questions: 1) What actions can players take? 2) How do those actions help them achieve the game objectives?
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover game themes. Table top game designers often think of the question: what comes first, mechanics or theme? The same can be said about educators when it comes to developing curriculum: content or learning outcomes?
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover Player Interaction. Player interaction is an important characteristic to consider when designing games. The designer has to answer the questions “How is the player going to interact with the game? How will the player interact with other players? What kind of decisions can the player make?” All of these questions should be answered when designing for player interaction.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover The Player Experience. The player experience is something that we all shoot for in game design. That’s because the player experience is what the player goes through when they play the game.
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover Game-Based Learning vs Gamification. Both gamification and games-based learning have entered popular culture. That means there’s been debate and misunderstanding about what they are; what they’re used for; and what differentiates them. Some people want to use games-based learning when they mean gamification. Others want to use gamification when they should use games-based learning. Just what is the difference between games-based learning and gamification?
Read MoreOn today’s episode we’ll cover “Rougelike Learning.” There’s a special appeal to playing really hard games. Games were you have to grind it out over time to get anywhere. A type of those really hard games are called roguelikes. But what makes them hard? What makes them appealing? Most importantly: how can we use the difficulty of roguelike games for games-based learning?
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