Stage 2 - Make

In this stage, students get their chance to redesign the base game they learned in the Play Stage.

In game design terms, it means they're going to add a theme to the base game and possibly change a few rules. This process is explained in general below, then specific details for each base game will be given in the Game Design Project Packs.

Photo by Mark Strozler

Considering Theme in Game Design

For students to understand this part of the game design exploration, they need to understand the concept of a game's theme. If working with an entire class, you could lead a discussion using these ideas here. Students could provide other examples from game they are familiar with. 

Theme could be thought of as the story the game is based on.

Most of the base games I use in these Project Packs do not have a theme. For example, the Roll-n-Flip doesn't really have a theme. There's no story. It's just about getting chips. I do this so students can add a theme related to the lesson they are studying.

Many very popular games students might be familiar with also do not have a theme. Think of Checkers or many card games like Bridge or Hearts. Players are just playing with the components within the game's rules, hoping to win. We sometimes call these abstract games.

Photo by Jon Ross

But in other games like Monopoly or Risk have a theme. In these games, it's almost like a story unfolds. More or less, players are pretending to be doing something other than playing with game rules, cards and plastic. The themes in those games are selling property and fighting battles to take over the world. In games with strong themes, the card text and the artwork usually serves to help players imagine that theme.

It's also important to notice that the rules also should support the theme. The rules of Monopoly are not exactly like buying and selling property in real life, but there are obvious similarities. For example, when you put some new buildings on a property it increases in value. In Risk, a bigger army has a better chance of taking over a smaller army. We expect the rules to support the theme.

So for this Make Stage of the Project Packs, students will add a theme to their base game. The page for each Game Design Project Pack will explain which elements the students should change to fit that theme they are using.

Examples from the Roll-n-Flip Game

I worked with some middle school students who redesigned my Roll-n-Flip game. They added a theme from Wonder, a book they had read in class.

If you look at the two cards at the right, you'll see how this part of the design process works. The top card is the plain card from the base game. Since there's no theme in that version, the card just tells the player what to do.

But the second card shows how the students tied it into the book. They decided the chips would represent Kindness in their game. They changed the title and the wording on the card so it feels like an event from the story.

The Game Design Planning Sheet

After discussing themes in games and looking at the examples above, it's time for students to add a theme to their chosen base game. A Game Design Planning Sheet will be provided for each base game that will guide them through this process.

Here are some things for the teacher to keep in mind before assigning the planning sheet:

• The students will be choosing a theme that's related to your topic. The lesson might be about a book they just read, like The Outsiders, or maybe it will be about a historical event like the U.S. Civil War. While they could use those entire topics as the theme, they also could choose a specific part of those topics. For example, they might focus on a climatic scene of the book or a particularly interesting battle of the war.
• The planning sheet will usually require them to name each card in the game as something from their theme and to rename other components as well. 
• The value of this exercise is the discussion students have as they connect the game theme to the course content. The Planning Sheet will ask them to do this. As you listen to these discussions, be sure students are thinking about the course content in a deep way. Ask further questions and guide them as necessary so they realize this level of analysis and synthesis of concepts is the goal.
• A template of the base game will also be provided for students, so they can easily change these elements without having to create all the files themselves.
• Students can use the collaborative features of the Google Drawings and Google Slides templates to work on the cards simultaneously or even when they're not together. By dividing up the tasks of editing (and with careful planning), they can redesign even 20 or more cards in a reasonable amount of time.
• Along with changing the text, there will be opportunities to add graphics that fit the theme too. The amount of time you want students to devote to these aspects is completely up to you.

Important:  Some students will want to do more than just add a theme to the base game. There are optional ideas listed on the planning sheets that give them tips for additional changes to the rules and components. Of course, as they change more of the game the whole project can take longer. Also, it's easy to throw off the game's balance and it might not play very well from start to finish. You can decide how much you want to bring those considerations into the project.

The next step in process is when students will print their game components and try the games out. Click here to see the general directions for the Test Stage.