Educational_Game_Design_Narrative-Chaima
#notesFromPaper Authors: Chaima, Magy Tags: narrative games - engagement GBL
Good games create engagement, engagement creates learning, but the link between engaging games and learning is not in the literature.
Why have games with narrative failed in the past to improve learning? It’s because narrative elements are unrelated to the gameplay or subject. It also makes the game longer, which should be accounted for. (tag: chocolate covered broccoli)
There was a powerpoint vs a game [56] and the friggin powerpoint won out.
Design Principles:
- Core mechanic conveys learning goals
- Game is modular, levels can be swapped out without breaking anything
- Controlled exploration, with enough freedom
- Story is related to the learning matter (but does not explicitly teach it, just provides framing for the world)
- The environment supports the narrative.
- Hints assist player reasoning but do not give the game away
In May's Journey, all the programming is computation as interaction
They created two versions of the game RN (Rich Narrative) and LN (Light Narrative)
Got some people via #mturk and found significance in people not getting bored.
Discussion
Principle 1 & 4 is where this game differs from the others.
