Tutorial

Preparation for Game Based Learning

How do I bring a new medium to my classroom and integrate it into my teaching? The answer is the same across all media, start doing it yourself. If you like to bring literature to your course, start reading and study the medium. It is the same with film and it is the same with games.

To bring games to your classroom, we recommend that you start playing games in your free time. You can also watch other people play in Let’s Play videos, but to understand the full potential and the fascination of the medium you have to play games yourself. That is why our 10 steps to bring games into your teaching course starts out with playing games and emphasizes entering this thing called games culture. Find other colleagues to play games with and discuss games to create a strong foundation for games projects at your institution. The knowledge of the culture and the ecosystem provides further possibilities for finding and using games, bringing up relevant topics from this culture and creating and contributing to it and the field of game based learning.

This learning course and the manual are intended to help you along the way as well as possible. It aims to answer the questions that remain when reading other game based learning guides and coming from practitioners it follows a very hands-on approach to the integration of games. The process of successfully implementing game based learning projects is long and wearisome and the more help you can get the better. This course and the manual are thus created to guide you through the steps to become a teacher experienced in game based learning.

1-1 Overview of platforms and genres

Platforms and limitations

In our guidebook “There is a Game for Everyone”, we discuss in lengthy detail what the possibilities and limitations are when it comes to using games in class. In general, games are released on specific platforms. Analog games come along as mostly card or board games, digital games run on specific systems. Some games are available on many platforms (especially the best-known titles, e.g. Minecraft), others are only released for a specific format or device (available only on mobile devices or only on PC).

You need to check this, of course, before playing the game or before bringing it to class. We will later present a checklist that is meant to be used for games to bring to the classroom going through all the aspects you need to consider (cf. Step 6, chapter 6-1). The gaming platforms and devices bring different specifics and different interfaces to the game. You might be able to play on touchscreens, with the mouse and the keyboard or a controller. You might need computers or additional VR headsets to play the game.

The devices need to be available at your school to use the game in class probably, but if a game is available on consoles and on mobile devices for example, you might play the game at home with your Switch (a video game console), but use it on mobile devices later in class. You just need to be aware of possible differences in presentation or gameplay when it comes to the different versions.

The number of available devices is large, for most educational settings probably the way to go is for analog games, games on mobile devices or on PCs. When it comes to PCs, it is mandatory to check the system requirements for the game, as the PCs or laptops might not meet the minimum requirements. A good opportunity are browser games or older free versions of games that do not require high level equipment.

Depending on your own setup at home and your personal experience with gaming, you can go for very different games. The more complex or demanding a game is when it comes to system requirements, the more challenging it is to be used for game based learning. You might also consider the experience of your students when looking for a game. On the one hand, if your target group is not into (digital) games and gaming that much, an analog game might be the better choice. On the other hand, if your target group consists of gamers, there might be their one favourite title that they all play and know well and also have the devices for to play it in a project. So, a bring-your-own-device approach to your game based learning project might work well in this specific case.

Wealth of genres

Game genres are important to consider for your project and the choice of game for it. Even though it is helpful to think in terms of genres, the categories are sometimes hard to define. There are classical game genres like Jump’n’Run games (sometimes also called platformers), strategy games, role-playing games or shooters, but it all gets more and more ambiguous and mixed up over time. Sometimes the genre is not easy to define or consists of a mixture of several distinct genres that are somehow all part of the gameplay. We will present some classifications in the following, but they are only a starting point for talking about genres.

So, as a starting point a classification of genres can help. As you can see in the diagram below there are a number of main genre classifications like adventure games, simulations or puzzles and you can subdivide them further. Beyond that, there is a mixture of genre elements that can be added to games. You can have a real-time strategy game (RTS) with roleplaying and puzzle elements, or probably any other combination of the genres mentioned. Additionally, there are games that do not fit in any of these categories and constitute something completely new, maybe due to a new or different platform and interface, maybe due to the fact that the game introduces completely new mechanics.

The category educational or serious game is a problematic one as you can see in our guidebook (p. 31), as it is not a genre of its own, but rather a specific use case or even an attitude of the developers. Many commercial games from the simulation, strategy or puzzle genre can easily be used in an educational setting and could therefore also be classified as educational and game based learning is not restricted to serious or educational games. It actually gets really interesting when you move beyond that realm.

The genre discussion can not lead to a satisfying answer to properly identify games that could be useful for teaching. In general, every game can be a topic for your classroom and many games present interesting challenges and mechanics to be applied in teaching. Most games are also valuable tools for language learning, understanding storytelling or representations of the digital culture games as a medium represent.

Maybe, to round this up, one observation can be seen as key for you when trying to find a game for education. As said before, many games tell stories. So, these stories can be one relevant aspect for teaching. Specific story games, like variations of adventures, quite often do not challenge the players mechanically, but present remarkable stories, personal experience or a worldview that might be interesting. So these games do not present a high barrier in terms of gaming experience and literacy for playing them. All the other games present a challenge for the player, either mechanically, so playing them is about motor skills, or intellectually because they present puzzles and challenges that can be solved by critical thinking and problem solving. Of course, all of these possibilities can be combined, mixed up or maybe only be in a certain part of the game.

1-2 Game examples

How do you find a game to play, then? Identifying a game and preparing to play it, is quite often guided by others. Use examples from our guidebook (p. 107-108) and learning designs for example. We will also give you some examples below that are a good starting point for your journey into the world of games.

There are of course a number of other good sources, from gamers, content producers and game journalists, as well as media educators and specialists for game based learning. We recommend websites, video channels, books and curated lists of games throughout the guidebook and the course to give you as much material to choose from as possible. Please find the respective lists here (p. 144).

We will give you a number of examples we consider good starting points for entering the world of gaming. These games are first in our list of recommendations, as they are easy to run and play and they obviously present content valuable for teaching. If you have already identified other games that would work and sound interesting, do not hesitate to try them, but be aware that they might present a challenge to you not only in-game, but maybe also by making gameplay possible for you due to limitations, platforms, interfaces and many more aspects.

You might have a look at:

The Wiki Game:

Wikipedia is a valuable online tool for learning. Being able to navigate the huge open source encyclopedia is not only a valuable skill, it is also a game. The objective of the game is: “Players (one or more) start on the same randomly selected article, and must navigate to another pre-selected target article, solely by clicking links within each article. The goal is to arrive at the target article in the fewest clicks (articles), or the least time. The single-player Wiki Game, known as Wikirace, Wikispeedia, WikiLadders, WikiClick, or WikiWhack, involves reducing one's previous time or number of clicks.”

The Wiki Game or Wikipedia Race was not designed as a serious game. We could not find any information about who initially created it, but we are pretty sure that it has been played in a lot of computer classes without the teacher knowing about it. It has been developed into a browser game and an iOS-App by a single developer since then, but still the focus of the development is not solely on a ‘serious’ or educational use case. It can still easily be used in a classroom setting and to create a project around it that on the one hand enables players to become more proficient in the game, while on the other learning about wikipedia, hyperlinks, the use of digital platforms, maybe open source and encyclopedias and their structure in general, sounds like a valuable and not very far-fetched project for basic skills teaching.

The Cube Escape Games (Windows, Android, iOS) are small (free) games that test your problem solving skills. You are asked to combine information and elements in the game to find the solutions. Escape Rooms (see a more comprehensive description in our guidebook p. 101) generally focus on critical thinking and creativity. They ask you to learn the combination of information and elements in the game and present a number of different puzzles and riddles.

Wilmot’s Warehouse (Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Windows, MacOS) asks (two) players to sort and organize goods in a warehouse. After doing that, you need to deliver some of the goods to the customers waiting at the desk. The quicker you bring the goods, the better your score is. You need a number of skills to be able to play this game successfully. You need to organize, do it methodically, be adaptable and if you play together, you need to communicate on point, find the right language and be decisive.

GeoGuessr is a browser based game that works with Google Maps to create a challenge for players to find out where they are located on the planet. Not created as a serious game when it came out in 2013, it has since then built a reputation for being a valuable learning tool. For a while now, the developer especially expands on the content and the value of the game clearly designed for educational purposes. As a teacher, you can also create an education account to use it in class. The GeoGuessr Education Edition offers assignments and follow-ups for teachers and offers a subscription model that directly addresses schools and teachers.

In Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android), an asymmetric multiplayer game about defusing bombs through talking, you need to communicate to be able to defuse the bombs under time pressure. This means communication and collaboration, eloquence and grit are as necessary as is a methodical approach. You need to be able to analyse well, show initiative and be reliable.

You can easily see all the aspects that you need to consider before being able to play. The first one, of course, is the system the game is played on, browser games being the most accessible and system independent. The next one is the platform to play the game on, then space on your hard drive, the interface needed to play the game, game modes and many more. We will later present a checklist that helps with this process of identifying a game and making sure that you can run it on your system or with the devices you have at school. Though, if the game seems to be out of reach due to its platform, hardware restrictions, etc., you can still bring it to class to make it a topic in your teaching. We will later dive deeper into that approach. If you like to find out now, you can go to chapter 3-2 to read more about Hildgen’s model of bringing games to your game based learning classrooms.

1-3 How to play games

You might think why is it a topic in the learning course how to play a game? The answer is that games are difficult. They challenge players in a lot of different ways. They demand interaction and present a lot of obstacles for the players, even outside of game play. Games have a certain language for how to approach players and understanding these signs and systems is absolutely necessary to be able to competently play a game. A video series by YouTuber Razbuten actually illustrates this perfectly well. He invites a person (his wife) to play games and the person never has done so before and does not have any experience in gaming whatsoever. His observations are great for understanding the challenges that await a person about to enter the world of games culture.

Gaming literacy

Gaming Literacy is a skill set like others mentioned in the guidebook. Specifically, it is the knowledge and the competence to be able to understand and play games with their interfaces and act skillfully within them. It has to do with the ability to run them on your system, using the interfaces to play them, and succeed in the tasks presented to you by the game.

There is digital knowledge necessary for the respective devices and interfaces, you need to understand the presentation of the game’s means to interact with it and you need to act proficiently in the game itself. It also includes knowledge around a game like the use of sources described above, video content, guides and wikis.

You can categorize games by the complexity they present to their users and the gaming skills they demand to be able to play them accordingly. Simple games like card games maybe, mobile ‘One Tap’ games, or browser games might only ask for very simple inputs and only understanding a basic mechanic in the game, others like some console or PC games ask for the competent use of a controller or the understanding of complex interfaces and systems. This is also important when you think about how long it takes to learn a game, what the time of an average play session is and the like.

Discovering through play

After having maneuvered all the obstacles and the game is finally running on your device, you are about to enter gameplay. Games can be more or less complex, but they are almost all challenging. They present a set of difficult problems you as a player have to overcome to succeed in the game. The presentation of the game’s interface, its controls and the core gameplay loop are the first things you have to understand. It might be hands-on and straightforward, but especially with more complex games like strategy or simulation games, the learning and deep understanding of the core concepts of a game can take dozens of hours and only experienced players are able to play the game skillfully and thus fully enjoy it. The game might help you there with a tutorial, a part of the game that shows and explains how to play the (basic) game.

Still, it is common for games that you as the player are expected to discover on your own how a game is played, what typical pitfalls and what successful strategies for gameplay are. Tinkering, trying and testing is at the core of the gameplay experience for many games. They ask you to inquire and to experiment and failure will be common. But failure, reflection and optimization of your gameplay are what makes games such interesting and valuable learning tools as well as pieces of entertainment media. This eventually changes the mindset of the learners, something we consider one of the main benefits of game based learning, but we will come back to that later.

For you as a person starting out on this journey, it is something you should not be afraid of. Instead, it is a valuable learning experience. And by learning games and understanding what they can offer to you as a player and a learner, you actually start to realize what an exciting learning experience games can provide.

Learning journal

Especially when you are new to the medium of games, playing them might be overwhelming to you. They offer such rich experiences that it might well be just too much to take in and you even struggle to grasp what the game expects of you.

Sources for knowledge about the game might be valuable here for you. Wikis, Let’s Play Videos and game guides can help here. You can also ask other players of the game (maybe from the community) for help and understanding. Besides that, we consider it a good idea to collect your impressions, thoughts and experiences from a game in some kind of form. You can create a journal of your gameplay experience. This might just be written notes, but they can take other forms as well, screenshots, videos of your gameplay, reviews, participation in forums about the game. Such a learning journal can be very helpful for people approaching a game for the first time and starting out new with the respective game.

For you as a teacher it is also already a preparation for the use of the game in the context of your learning project, the more information you collect the better it can be applied in a classroom. For your students, such an approach might make sense, too. Especially when you have certain topics or problems presented in the game that are relevant for your project in class.

Let’s Play - Presentation of our work/material/videos

Video “Razbuten - Gaming for Non-Gamers”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax7f3JZJHSw&list=PLordXx8iNEyStcX_WzqM0JCpiJYgqhinc

Video “Why Games?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOXyB7oKDUc&t=2s

Video “GeoGuessr”

Achievement - Exercises following the topic

1 Find genre classifications for some games, try to be as precise as possible and include and compare your findings to descriptions by others.

2 Describe the challenges you experienced when playing game X. Give a list of aspects you struggled with in the beginning of playing the game.

3 Share some insights from your learning journal for a specific game. What were your impressions? Did you already find aspects interesting for teaching? What were they?