Game Design Instant Expert Video
The video opens with a split-screen layout. On the left, we’re looking at Kathleen Mercury, a woman who has dark hair with bangs, fair skin, and is wearing a dark-colored V-neck top. Her facial expression is friendly and engaging as she speaks directly to the camera. The background behind her is plain.
On the right side of the screen, we have a series of presentation slides. The first slide is titled “Tabletop Game Design” in large, bold text, with a thin green line above the text. Below the title, in smaller text, it says “Media Smarts”. The background is a clean white, providing good contrast with the text.
As the video progresses, the slides change, but the split-screen format remains. The speaker on the left continues to present the material.
The video opens with a title: “Tabletop Game Design in the Classroom” with “MediaSmarts” below it. Then, “Who am I? Kathleen Mercury!” appears, followed by bullet points: “Gifted Teacher (Game Design, RPGs, Cosplay, Filmmaking, Debate, Humor, ???),” “Game Designer (Dragnarok, Crash Course, Valkyrie),” “Podcast Cohost: Games in Schools and Libraries, On Board Games, Board Game Broads,” “GAMA Education Advisory Committee,” and “www.kathleenmercury.com.” The text “What am I Going to Cover Today?” is shown, followed by learning objectives and topics like “What is game design and why should it be taught?” and “The design thinking approach.”
The video then changes to “Learning objectives for this lecture,” with bullet points: “Understand what is game design and why it should be taught,” “Understand that as a medium, games have their own grammar and acquiring gaming literacy is essential for success in using games in the classroom,” “Clear learning objectives and how to design game goals to meet the learning objectives is essential for creating meaningful games,” and “Teaching game design is a learning process for the teacher AND student.”
Next, “Game Design” defined as requiring students to “create the idea for a game, design a prototype, test it, determine the success of the test through given feedback, and repeating this process until it is done.” Below this, “Why Do I Teach Game Design?” is shown, with bullet points: “Develops analytical, practical, and creative thinking skills,” “Provides autonomy over choices and collaboration for improvement,” “Is authentic and real-world,” and “Teaches one how to accept unfinished work and to see success in incremental progress.”
The video then presents “Benefits for Students from Using Games” with a list of bullet points including “Students become creators, not just consumers,” “Pathway to STEAM careers,” “Strategic thinking,” “Systems thinking,” “Logical thinking,” “Powerful modeling tools,” “Viciously engaging,” “Problem-solving,” “Conflict resolution and negotiation,” “Communication,” “Project management,” “Creativity,” “Empathy,” and “Fun!!!” Below this, “What is gaming literacy and why is it important for game design?” is asked, followed by the definition: “Gaming Literacy: Knowing the basic concepts, practices, and references to work authentically within the game design world.”
An implied image of common board games from a Google search for “make a board game” is mentioned, representing “what students know.” The onscreen text then states: “Modern board games offer a wide variety of player experiences and choices.” It notes that the presenter has students play a wide variety of games to “expand their gaming literacy,” showing images of “examples of games my students have made.”
The video then poses the question “What Is a Game?” and provides a detailed definition: “A game is an activity that has a goal, a challenge (or challenges), and rules that guide the achievement of the goal; interactivity with either other players or the game environment (or both); and feedback mechanisms that give clear cues as to how well or poorly you are progressing. It results in a quantifiable outcome (you win or lose, you hit the target, and so on) that usually generates an emotional reaction in players.” Below this, it states: “Think about how well this correlates to instruction in the classroom!”
Next, “Gaming Literacy: Elements of a Game” lists and defines six key elements: “Goal: The objective, the win state,” “Core Dynamic: What the players must do to achieve the win state or accomplish the goal,” “Game Mechanics: The specific actions (physical or mental) players take to achieve the game goal,” “Components: The board and bits that make up the materials of play,” “Rules: What a player can and cannot do in the game,” and “Space: Where the game takes place and how that space affect the game.” The source “Boller and Kapp” is cited. An example for “Elements of a Game: Risk World Domination” is started, with “Goal” defined.
It then continues the “Elements of a Game: Risk” example, defining the remaining elements: “Core Dynamic: Try to take over the most territories,” “Game Mechanics: Collect cards, place armies, and attack other players through dice rolls to claim more territories,” “Components: Game board, plastic army pieces, dice, cards,” “Rules: 1. Receive new troops and place them on the board 2. Attack (if you want to) 3. Maneuver your troops (if you want to), and all the specific details that govern those choices,” and “Space: The board simulates the world, covered in armies, fighting in battles using the game components.”
The video then displays “Gaming Literacy: Core Dynamics” and lists various Core Dynamics with examples of games that embody them: “Race to the Finish: Reach the finish before others or the time runs out” (Life, Candyland, Mario Kart, Downforce, Hare and Tortoise, Chinese Checkers, Chutes & Ladders, Sorry!). “Territory Acquisition: Acquire or take land, typically to create an empire or to own most of something” (Risk, Carcassonne, Monopoly, Civilization, Axis & Allies). “Exploration: Wander around, explore your world to find things of value” (Tomb Raider, Clue, Incan Gold, Escape: Curse of the Temple, Forbidden Desert).
Next comes “Collection: Find and get specific objects” (Trivia Pursuit, Sushi Go, Monopoly Deal, Ticket to Ride, Labyrinth, Go Fish). “Alignment: Arrange game components in a particular order” (Candy Crush, Solitaire, Pente, Connect Four, Ingenious, Fits, Qwirkle, Kingdomino, Parcheesi). “Forbidden Act: Get opponents to break rules, make a wrong move, or do something wrong” (Twister, Operation, Great Divide, Jenga). “Construct or Build: Create something using specific resources” (Catan, Minecraft, Roll Through the Ages, Welcome To).
The list of core dynamics concludes with : “Outwit: Use specialized language or skills to defeat an opponent” (Stratego, Chess, Napoleon’s Triumph). “Solution: Solve a problem or puzzle” (Chess, Clue, Mysterium, Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, Guess Who?). “Matching: Recognize similarities or a specific description, create pairs, or groupings” (Spot It!, Memory, Mastermind). “Rescue or Escape: Get out of a situation or place” (Capture the Flag, Scotland Yard, Exit & Unlock series, Flashpoint: Fire Rescue).
The video then defines Game Mechanics as “the specific actions (physical or mental) players take to achieve the game goal.” It then lists “Classic Game Mechanics” with examples: “Roll and Move (Clue, Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Life),” “Set Collection (Go Fish!, Gin/Rummy, Monopoly),” and “Dice Rolling (Yahtzee, Risk).” It concludes by stating: “With so many classic games using the same mechanics, it makes sense that when students and teachers create games, they are repetitive and similar.”
It then states: “Modern board games have a wide variety of game mechanics that allow for much more varied styles of game play.” It provides examples like “Pick Up and Deliver, Area Control, Simultaneous Action Selection, Push Your Luck, Route/Network Building, Area Movement, and more.” The slide concludes: “Just from the names, you can get a sense of the different types of actions players can take. The more gaming literacy your students have, the more easily they can design games that meaningfully reflect the objectives desired.”
The screen then displays “The game design teaching process.” It then lists “My Game Design Project Parameters” under “Game Requirements (The ‘Yes Yesses’)”, with bullet points: “Must play 2, 3, and 4 players,” “Presents conflict that affects everyone as a overall challenge as well as on their turn,” “Approved mechanics must emphasize player choice,” “Random elements may be present but must be used sparingly, have a minimal effect,” and “No trivia or quiz questions.”
It continues with “My Game Design Project Parameters” under “Game Restrictions (The ‘No Nos’)”, with bullet points: “No cooperative games (hard to design),” “No player elimination, lost turns, or back to starts (not fun),” “No event decks or powerups (too random),” “No player to player violence, no ‘killing’ (basic type of conflict repetitive),” “No sports or war themes (already designed),” and “No weapons that are school inappropriate.” Below this, “Play Games for Gaming Literacy” is stated, followed by: “Students play easy to learn, short, clever games to experience different core and game mechanics. We talk about the mechanics so they become familiar with them by name and function.”
“Designing a Race Game Teaches the Essentials” is listed with bullet points: “Learning the basic elements and mechanics of a game,” “Conceptualizing the game and how to play,” “Making a prototype,” “Testing their game,” “Playtesting and receiving feedback,” and “Reflecting on their game design experience.” It concludes: “This can be a standalone project, or a precursor project to other games.”
“Determining the Conflict in a Theme” is listed, explaining that “The goal of a game must present a conflict that affects everyone as an objective, and everyone must experience some form of conflict on their turn.” Bullet points illustrate types of conflict: “You want something, and someone else wants it too,” “You want to do something, and someone else gets in the way,” and “Someone else has something, and you want it.”
It then moves to “Focus on Game Mechanics,” stating: “Mechanics determine what actions players take, so students conceptualize different ways to play a game with the same theme and conflict. Experimentation is highly encouraged, and I allow students to change any element of their game as their ideas evolve.” Finally, “Make Prototypes!” is displayed, with the instruction: “Students make their first prototype fast and cheap so that it is easy to change. Prototypes can be partially complete for testing purposes.” It adds: “I want to enable rapid iteration (fail fast) and to avoid bad ideas becoming precious.”
“Playtesting” is followed with bullet points on feedback: “What Works,” “Needs Improvement,” “New Ideas to Add,” and “Questions (What was the most fun moment? Did you feel like an X?).” It states: “This collaboration helps students shift from being nervous about showing their games to wanting to playtest and get feedback from each other.” Below, “Iterate!” is displayed with the instruction: “Repeat the design process as your timeline allows. Remind them to think carefully about the needs of their user–how can they use the feedback that was given to make their game better?”
“Writing Rules” states: “Students learn technical writing skills to explain their ideas clearly, concisely, completely, and consistently. Students must think about what information others need to have to set up, play, and finish the game in a satisfying way. Writing the rules is one of the hardest parts of game design, but the more their games have been playtested, the easier the rules are to write.” Below, it transitions to “Designing games for specific learning objectives” and lists “From Learning Objective to Games” steps: “1. What is your learning objective? 2. For this learning objective, what could be different goals for a game? 3. What core dynamic simulates or approximates your learning objective? 4. What existing games have core dynamics that match your learning objective? 5. How can you apply a core dynamic to your learning objective in an entirely new game?
It then asks “What Makes a Game Meaningful?” and answers: “Meaningful games are aligned to your learning objective.” It then lists “Epistemically-based Games” (Games that require students to think logically as if they are in the role being simulated) and “Content Based” games (Games that help students reach a learning objective, Games that add a different point of view or new insight for students). Below, it defines “Non meaningful games are” as: “A game that fills time,” “A game that is ‘theme related’ but not substantial,” “A game that is not explicitly connected to the content,” and “Activities that look like a game, but offer players no relevant choices.” It ends with the question: “What is the learning objective? What core and game mechanics will fit that objective?
Bullet points state: “Game designers design bad games, then make them better,” “Designing a publication-ready game can take years, so expect games to be the equivalent of a rough draft,” and “Your role is more of a coach to help students through the process, and less of a game design expert.” It also advises: “So don’t worry about being a game designer yourself, or never having done this before. If we can have the kids work through uncertainty, so can we.”
“Should Students Work Alone or With a Partner?” It provides an answer for “Alone”: “Students have complete autonomy, control, and responsibility over the entire process. They will interact and collaborate with others, but they don’t have to compromise their vision.” For “With a Partner”: “Students may need to work with a partner to learn how to do the above, and some students do work better with others than they would on their own.” Below, “Advice From My Students to Your Students:” is presented with bullet points: “Don’t give up, even if your first one is a flop,” “Give your students time to collaborate with other students on their games,” “Have a game collection with a wide variety of different types of games with different ways to play,” “Playtesting with others is really important, as much as possible,” and “Changing ideas is okay.”
“Assessment” is followed by bullet points: “Assessment must match desired learning objectives. But remember: There are no right answers,” and “Game design requires students to create the idea for a game, design a prototype, test it, determine the success of the test through given feedback, and repeating this process until it is done.” It adds: “Know your students and help them set reasonable goals and expectations for themselves and their games,” and “Emphasize progress and the process, not just the end project.”
“Equipment” lists “Prototype Materials: Game Components” with examples: “Paper (Standard, 17×11, rolls, square; Blank, square, & hex grids),” “Recycled game bits from unused games,” “Plastic 1cm math manipulatives,” “Colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, index cards,” and “Pennies! Anything that is small, cheap, durable, and comes in large quantities is a game piece!” It then lists “Prototype Materials: Storage” (Literature mailer boxes for game boxes; Dollar Store bins; Shelves) and “Prototype Materials: Hardware & Software” (Computer; Google Suite (Documents, Drawing); Other? (Adobe Publisher, InDesign, Photoshop); Printer (Color or Black & White); 3-D Printer for custom bits; Low Tech Crafting).