Presented at: All Things Open 2019 Presented by: Veethika Mishra, Red Hat

2. It’s a painting from the mid 18th century.
We don’t live in that time anymore, we don’t eat the same food, wear the
same clothes or drive the same cars. Then why is our education system
stuck in the same assembly line approach?

3. Turn Up
The Fun!
Veethika Mishra
Interaction Designer @Red Hat

4. Why
games?
Improves
decision
making skills
Opportunity to
feel equally
powerful and
responsible like
adults
Comes with
collateral
learning
Teaches critical
thinking skills,
creativity,
teamwork, and
good
sportsmanship
Learn through
simulation
without actual
consequences

5. Why
games?
Educators in the Nordic countries
have started to use LARPing(Live
action role playing) with educational
context(EDULARP) to teach kids
about history and literature.

6. Flow is an optimal psychological
state that people experience when
engaged in an activity that is both
appropriately challenging to one’s
skill level, often resulting in
immersion and concentrated focus
on a task. This can result in deep
learning and high levels of personal
and work satisfaction.
Mihaly’s
Flow

9. So what’s stopping us?
Expenses &
Design Time

10. Securing
The Game
Premises
WORLD
Translate the context of your
subject into a virtual/ world
Singular Major
Objective
Associated
Resources
Scope Of
Recovery
Universal Evil
& CrisisHow could we easily deduce the
premises for an educational game
without wasting a lot of time? What is the main
objective for the
existence of the world?
Eg. Leaf - to prepare
food for the plant,
Heart - To ensure blood
is pumped fine to the
other body parts
What are the necessary
resources for meeting
the bigger objective
What is the crisis at
hand, who is the one
biggest enemy who’s
hindering the process of
meeting the objective?
How could the enemy
be dealt with and
balance/peace be
restored?

11. Introducing
Characters
Storyline
Start Conflict Resolution
Competitive
Protagonist Vs. Antagonist
Cooperative
Workers Vs. Universal Evil
Resource
Reserve
Resource
management
Progression
Strategy
Defined
Goal
Achieve
Goal
Learning Objective Touchpoints
It is important to find the right roles,
ability and intentions for the
characters as the students would
necessarily learn while playing by
imbibing the characteristics of these
characters.

12. Mechanics
& Gameplay
Objective
Storyline
Resources
Characters
Actions
How could the characters, by using the given
resources and using their imaginary powers,
within the context of the world they operate
in, help proceed the game towards the goal?
Mechanics
How could the actions be translated into a formula
or a rule in the game within the limitations of the
components and materials used?
With the given context and
resources, how would the players
interact within the game in the
scope of their roles?

13. Hand Management
These games are the ones with cards in them
that reward players for playing the cards in
certain sequences or groups. The optimal
sequence/grouping may vary, depending on
board position, cards held and cards played by
opponents. Managing your hand means
gaining the most value out of available cards
under given circumstances. Cards often have
multiple uses in the game, further obfuscating
an "optimal" sequence.
Grid Movement
The Grid Movement occurs when pawns
move on the grid in many directions.
Usually the grid is square (like in Chess) or
hexagonal (Abalone).
In a game there can be many pawns (like
in Chess or Checkers) or only one (like the
bishop in Fresco).
Storytelling
In storytelling games, players are provided
with conceptual, written, or pictorial stimuli
which must be incorporated into a story of
the players' creation. Once Upon a Time
uses a selection of words while Rory's Story
Cubes include ambiguous symbols. Some
games like Snake Oil and Big Idea prompt
players to pitch a product, which frequently
takes the form of a brief story or vignette.
Worker Placement
More precisely referred to as "action drafting", this mechanism
requires players to select individual actions from a set of actions
available to all players. Players generally select actions
one-at-a-time and in turn order. There is usually(*) a limit on the
number of times a single action may be taken. Once that limit for
an action is reached, it typically either becomes more expensive to
take again or can no longer be taken for the remainder of the
round. As such, not all actions can be taken by all players in a given
round, and action "blocking" occurs. If the game is structured in
rounds, then all actions are usually refreshed at the start or end of
each round so that they become available again.
Dice Rolling
A game mechanic dice rolling in a game can be used for many
things, randomness being the most obvious.
Dice can also be used as counters; start at 6 (for a normal die:
singular for dice) and turn it to 5 at the end of a round, single
player's turn etc. The dice themselves can be unique and different
sizes, shapes and colors to represent different things.

14. Balancing
The Actions
https://boardsandbarley.com/2013/09/17/monte-carlo-simulations-for-game-design/
https://gamebalanceconcepts.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/level-1-intro-to-game-balance/
Monte Carlo Method
Spreadsheets
HYPGEOMDIST
The game shouldn’t favor any player
or group. To make sure all the actions
have a balanced reaction to them,
spreadsheet are used to calculate the
probability with some predefined
functions

15. Diversity &
inclusion
Testing ...make the most
hesitant students
speak up?
...provide a safe place
for students to open
up?
...encourage
students to let their
guards down?
...allow students to
empathize with their
fellow students?
Does your game...
If the game does not make every
student feel welcome to play it, it has
lost the purpose already. While
there’s no hard and fast rules, there
are hacks to follow to ensure
inclusivity in games.

16. Diversity &
inclusion
Testing

17. Open
Standards
Documentation:
Github!
The base design of the
games could be hosted on
GitHub and contributors
could participate in the
evolution or modification
of the game by
contributing PRs.
Open Science Game from
eLife Innovation Sprint 2019,
Cambridge >
To ensure the game is easily
accessible, discoverable and
shareable, it is important to follow
open standards while selecting a
platform to host the base design, tool
to create assets such that the format
of the end product is usable by open
softwares, etc.

18. To ensure the game is easily
accessible, discoverable and
shareable, it is important to follow
open standards while selecting a
platform to host the base design, tool
to create assets such that the format
of the end product is usable by open
softwares, etc.
Open Educational Resources
Could games be included as resources in this system? There’s an absence of ‘Play’ and
interactivity in general in the MOOCs and OERs.
Open
Standards

19. Example https://www.secrethitler.com/
To ensure the game is easily
accessible, discoverable and
shareable, it is important to follow
open standards while selecting a
platform to host the base design, tool
to create assets such that the format
of the end product is usable by open
softwares, etc.
Print and Play
The instructions for the print and play files should be in adherence to accessibility standards.
Users should be encouraged to used locally available material to replace the play pieces with.
Open
Standards

20. Choosing
The Right
License
https://creativecommons.org/choose/

21. Thank
You!