designing transformational games
See my broader note on: what can games do?
I absolutely love the transformational_Framework-Culyba
Activity Theory Serious Games Analysis-Carvalho has some great related work.
A transformational game# needs to properly enmesh transformational objectives with gameplay, which is a difficult task.
Most transformational games fail because they simply take an existing template (e.g. Pac Man) and try to make it educational - Communicating Values through Mechanics
transformational games often have a rhetorical position that they reinforce through gameplay. Instead they should allow the player to discover the “correct” position through their gameplay. - Mechanic as the Message
Games should model systemic forces by letting their mechanics be abstractions of activities found within the larger system the game models. - Mechanic as the Message
Related notes:
- transformational games need to simulate complex social situations
- transformational games often fail
- transformational games shouldn't have safe environments
- transformational games shouldn't overwhelm the player
Steps of creating a transformational game:
- Empathize (who is your audience, and what do they need?)
- Define (What are your learning goals?)
- Ideate (Think & prototype)
- Create (Build them)
- Iterate (Playtest and rebuild)
