Project 1 was a very interesting journey for me, as it was the first time I tried to make a game that was more than simply “fun”! Sure, I’ve aspired for my games to have a story, a heart-wrenching moment, something for the player to adhere to – but this was all in the name of making the journey more enjoyable. It was a very rewarding experience for me to see that, while games can provide an entertaining experience, they can also positively impact their players in other very concrete ways!
Our game certainly afforded the “challenge” type of fun (aided by “fellowship”!), but did so in such a way that it let our players learn implicit skills to remedy such challenge. In accordance with Erin Hoffman’s idea of “Sophia”, an eventual state of rewarding mastery was achieved once players built the skills to overcome these challenges – implicit skills that were tailored in such a way to help them learn how to navigate unfamiliar communication issues in real life! The limited vocal mechanics added to this sort of lack-of-communication challenge, but led to an air of silliness and playfulness! Players had to instead take advantage of confirming the understanding of their created language in other ways (like miming), teaching them these non-verbal communication skills.
At first, I was worried that teaching in games would either be not fun, or would introduce too much challenge into the game. Scoping exactly how one would teach language skills in not just an entertaining way, but in a game – a device that afforded its players a sense of control and self-efficacy to their fun and play – seemed like a very formidable challenge. My teammates were, however, ambitious – and soon I found myself just as hopeful and eager in implementing these learning outcomes!
It was tremendously rewarding to watch as others played our game, to see them laugh and have fun! And yet, what stuck with me was how our players would continue to carry their shared language with them. Out of the game, players would refer to and deeply remember the ways they characterized the world around them together – and in this I know they are carrying those skills learned alongside it all! I am excited and eager to leverage the tremendous learning power games have in improving the collective good. Sometimes effecting change can seem like a daunting task, especially when the things to teach are difficult and unfun. But the idea of trying to teach in this game first, too, felt similarly. I now know games are a powerful tool to affect a learning outcome, and I can’t wait to see the good that comes the next time I use it!
