This document outlines the design of a board game to teach sustainable development. The game is intended for elementary school children to understand how sustainable development works. It will have rules, characters, and resources for players to engage with as they work towards the game's objectives. The design draws from learning theories like constructivism and flow to make the game educational yet fun. It will start simply and get more complex over multiple stages. Players will make choices that impact their access to resources and abilities to win in order to learn lessons about sustainability. The game prototype will allow testing and improving the design based on playability and learning outcomes.

1. Green Economy
Liping Liu
Wilian Gatti Jr
Xingru Lai

2. Project
A board/card or other hands-on (non-digital game) game
prototype that will provide opportunities to play with
rules, context, characters, and so forth as the players
engage in this game. This game should allow players to
understand how possibilities are created and
transformed in a game. I would also like it to be easy to
reproduce as I would like to use it in multiple contexts
with multiple groups.

3. Idea
Theme: sustainable development
Important for future generations (children in elementary
school) identifies as a target group for our
intervention.
Sustainable development: "incompatibility between
continuous economic growth and environmental
conservation" (Veiga, 2005, p.189).

4. Learning Theories
Flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993）
● Clear goals and immediate feedback
● Focused concentration
● Equilibrium between challenge and personal skills
● The feeling of control
● Sense of growth and of being part of some greater entity
● Time distortion
● Merging of action and awareness
● Self-rewarding experience

5. Learning Theories
Constructivism
● Interaction among players
● A social process

6. Learning Theories
Cognitive foundations of game-based learning
Situatedness
Transfer of learning
Information design
Interaction design

8. Design

9. Design and Learning Theories
Cognitivism
Learning is situated in a meaningful and relevant context
Our theme grounded on sustainable development: Different elements
to reproduce the sustainable development (Resources)
Prior knowledge plays an important role in learning
Procedures based on well-known board games (Procedures)
Learning should be organized from simple to complex order
Concept of stages and evolution of a “society” to reach the final
objective (Objectives)
Logical thinking/Process and organize information
Strategy to win the game and change in final goals (Outcome. Bring
together: Rules, Procedures, Boundaries, Resources, and Conflict)

10. Design and Learning Theories
Constructivism
Learning is a social process
Rules provide opportunities to players’ interactions (Rules:
negotiations/agreements)
Learners construct their own meaning through interaction with and
interpretation of the environment
Struggles to access resources and to win the game (Conflict)
Lessons learned about sustainable development (Outcomes)

11. Stage ONE
* A factory = 2 minera+1 Tech+G$1
(leading to G$1 & -1EP each turn)
* An army = 1 mineral+1 Tech+G$2
* one factory on one land
* A land = G$1/army & -1EP
* Army for attack = -2EP
* Chance cards = Possibilities
* Negotiation among players
What’s New at the Stage TWO
* Building A new factory = 2 clean
energy+1 researcher+G$4
(Leading to G$1 & +2EP each turn)
* Upgrade an old factory=1 tech+
2 researcher+2 clean energy+G$3
(Leading to G$2 & +2EP each turn)

12. New
Look

13. Lessons Learned
From Design to Theory = theory in practice
Importance of diversity in a project team = richer brainstorms
Importance of prototyping (play fast) = test, fail, improve, and test again
Keep simple = a playable game