IN THIS LESSON WE WILL COVER:
Creative Prompt - get juices flowing on fun in games
- Simple, low stakes warm up activity
- Invite students to think aloud, share ideas with group
Ideation Activity - practical ways to explore fun
- Encourage students to write ideas down, capture concepts in sketchbooks
- Invite students to share favorite ideas aloud
Playtest - practical ways to test for fun in games
- Find out what questions to ask to know if games are fun
- Encourage students to pair up and explore familar games to practice playtesting for fun
STEP 1
WARM-UP PROMPT
(5 mins)
PROMPT: What makes a game fun?
How can we tell if a game is fun?
Invite participants to share ideas out loud to the group
STEP 2
FINDING THE FUN IN GAMES
(10 mins)
EXPLAIN: We can’t always be sure ideas will be interesting or fun. Iterating on early prototypes is a way to ensure game concept and actions are fun.
Here some ways to explore different types of fun:
- Recombine add new game mechanics. Modify, remove or add new rules
- Change play space, platform or game environment
- Increase or decrease speed or session time
PROMPT: Consider a favorite game...how would you improve it?
Write ideas down individually in notebooks or sketch paper and then show and tell ideas aloud with the group
STEP 3
TESTING FOR FUN
(15 mins)
ASK: How do we know if our game is fun in testing?
Below are questions to help measure the fun factor
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the game?
- What was the most fun part of playing the game?
- Were there any moments that felt tedious or bored?
- Would you want to play this game again?
- What's one thing you remember about this game?
- How did playing the game make you feel?
- Did you feel a sense of accomplishment?
- Were there any moments that surprised you?
- Is this a game you would recommend to a friend?
- What would you say is the best part of the game?
PRACTICE: In pairs, ask students to run a game test session (interview format) on a familiar game. Ask them to use questions from list above to explore why they are “fun”
SHARE OUT: Regroup together and share aloud 1) the name of game and 2) what responses they uncovered
