Programme title: Game Masters Years: 4 8 Theme Big question Key competencies When you re designing a video game, there are key design elements to consider. Many of these are closely connected to the needs of the audience. What are the key considerations when you re developing a video game? Thinking: Students will need to think about various aspects of the games they have played to help them design their own game. Relating to others: Students will work in small groups to design a game based on findings they have gained by researching examples in the exhibition. They will need to consider the needs of a specific audience. Programme description Working in small groups, students will be challenged to develop a game design that s within a particular genre and that includes particular elements. The students will randomly select both the genre and the elements. For example, the students might design a racing game involving bananas and a moose. Groups will carry out research by playing games within the exhibition that reflect their chosen genre. They will be guided around the exhibition by the latest HP tablet computers and use them to record research findings. Footage from professionals within the gaming industry will be available to illustrate particular ideas. The groups then move into the classroom to share their research and put together a design brief to pitch to the rest of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 1 of 8
the class. The data collected on the HP tablets will be available to the students online so they can continue work on their design briefs once they return to school. English-medium curriculum Technology Technological Practice Levels 2 4 Māori-medium curriculum Hangarau Technological Practice Planning for practice, Brief development, and Outcome development and evaluation Level 3 Discuss and promote their own ideas as a simple plan that identifies: Technological Knowledge Levels 2 4 The appearance of the product; Technological modelling The possible materials to be used; Nature of Technology Levels 2 4 A simple starting process. Characteristics of technology Level 4 Product development takes account of the nature of the need and client or community feedback. Learning intentions Students can identify and describe at least three key elements in game design. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 2 of 8
Students can incorporate these design elements when creating a design brief for a game that includes particular features and that caters to a particular audience. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 3 of 8
Possible Classroom activities The following activities can be done in the classroom either before or after your visit to Te Papa: Have your students list their favourite board game, outdoor game, and video game. What things about each game make it your favourite? Have your students choose a video game they have played and write a review of it. Highlight the good things and bad things about the game and give it an overall score out of 10 or 100. As a class, list all the video games that students have played. In groups, sort these games into categories. (Let the students come up with their own way to categorise the games.) Then introduce the idea of video game genres. Using the following hyperlinked list of genres, ask the groups to sort their list of games again. http://www.acmi.net.au/explore_game_genres.htm Ask your students to choose their favourite video game and then write an instruction manual for playing that game. Remind them that the people reading the instructions will not have played the game before. So the students must carefully fashion their language. Using the website Game Froot (www.gamefroot.com), have your students create a video game based on either a story they have written in class or a classic fairy tale. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 4 of 8
Supporting material Game Masters: Education Resource Kit This education resource kit provides the opportunity to learn about the skills and processes of the world's greatest videogame designers. http://bit.ly/uplfa2 Game Masters: Classroom Activity Kit This classroom activity kit allows for enhanced student engagement with the Game Masters exhibition. http://bit.ly/t6ibi6 Game Masters: The Game Resource Kit This resource kit explains the various levels of Game Masters: The Game and includes discussion questions for the classroom. http://bit.ly/twaxfc Game Resources from ACMI A range of gaming related education resources http://www.acmi.net.au/explore_games.htm Game Froot Use this site to create your own video game and play games that other people have made. http://gamefroot.com/ Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 5 of 8