• Open Material for Game and Gamification Design

    This is an exerpt of the full course

    It is freely available for you. In case you need to attend the full course with activities and assignments, or if you want to earn credits or a certificate, please contact Oulun ammattikorkeakoulu (Oamk) to find out when the next full course starts.

    • Introduction

      • Learning objectives

        After completing this course the students will understand the game design process and the work of a game designer.  

        The students will learn how the game design documents are created and used to support the game development. The students will learn the importance of teamwork in game design and production. They will understand the concept of gamification and how to design gamification to a specific purpose.

        Language: English

        Certificate: No certificate available

        Rights: Copyright by Oulu University of Applied Sciences, (oamk.fi). Most of the course material licenced by Creative Commons.

        Provider: Oulu University of Applied Sciences, (oamk.fi).

      • Game and gamification design glossary

        Here you find some of the keywords concerning serious games, game design and gamification.

    • Game Design Principles

    • First Steps

      • First steps of the game design File
        First get famialirized to important first steps of the game design by reading afore-listed PDF document "First steps of the game design". Then do the quiz.
      • QUIZ: First steps of the game design
        First read the PDF document First steps of the game design. Then do the quiz.
      • Extra Credits: Making Your First Game URL

        Playlist of YouTube videos focusing on early phases of game development. 

      • QUIZ: Making your first game

        Watch the first two videos of the YouTube playlist "Making your first game". Those videos are "Making Your First Game: Basics - How To Start Your Game Development - Extra Credits" and "Making Your First Game: Practical Rules - Setting (and Keeping) Goals - Extra Credits". After watching the videos do the quiz.

      • Serious Game Canvas File
        Use this canvas when defining ja designing a serious game.
      • Discussion Page
        At this point, there is a discussion in the course, but not here in the open material. The topic of the discussion is Serious Games Canvas. The discussion consists of following tasks: 1. Select the game idea. 2. Fill the top and middle boxes of the canvas based on your game idea. 3. Submit your canvas to discussion. 4. Collaborate with your fellow students by replying their posts. The purpose of replying is to comment and help fellow students.
      • Discussion Page
        At this point, there is a discussion in the course, but not here in the open material. The topic of the discussion is the Game Prototype. The discussion consists of following tasks: 1. Select the prototyping method and tool. 2. Develop your game prototype. 3. Submit your prototype to discussion. 4. Collaborate with your fellow students by replying their posts. The purpose of replying is to comment and help fellow students.

    • Game Analysis

      The game analysis is an important game development action that is used in order to understand games better, especially providing insight into the game-player relationship. The game analysis has something in common with the game review but there is an important difference between the analysis and the review. The game analysis mainly consists of what is actually present in the game, not what you think should be.

    • Gamification Design

      Gamification is the use of game elements and game principles in non-game contexts to improve user engagement, organizational productivity, learning, crowdsourcing, employee recruitment and evaluation, ease of use, usefulness of systems, physical exercise, traffic violations, and more.

    • Game Design Documents

      • Game Design Documents File

        Introduction to game design documents.

      • How (and Why) to Write a Great Game Design Document URL
        The article presents justifications and experiences of making a good game design document.
      • QUIZ: Game design documents
        First read the PDF document "Game design documents" and the web article "How (and Why) to Write a Great Game Design Document". Then do the quiz.
      • GDD?! Game Design Document Examples URL
        The article presents game design documents including links to some example documents. 
      • Discussion Page
        At this point, there is a discussion in the course, but not here in the open material. The topic of the discussion is Game Design Document. The discussion consists of following tasks: 1. Write the Game Design Document for your game idea based on the previous discussions and the material of the course. 2. Submit your Game Design Document to discussion. 3. Collaborate with your fellow students by replying their posts. The purpose of replying is to comment and help fellow students. The Game Design Document is the final assignment of the course.

    • Pitching

      A sales pitch is a short presentation given to spark the interest of a potential investor, customer, business partner etc. A good pitch is built to persuade and impress and it is crafted carefully for its audience. The pitch presents the problem and the need behind the product, showing that there is a demand and a potential user group. It then shows an innovative solution to this need. It is also vital to show how the product, for example an applied game, would fit in the existing market and compete there (Unique selling point/proposition). Finally the pitch shows how the solution will be executed and what is asked from the audience of the pitch. For example an investor pitch would describe what kind of funding the company is looking for and how this funding would be used to create a product or service to give maximum return of investment (ROI) to the investor.

    • Resources

      • Serious Gaming Cluster Finland URL
        The Serious Gaming Cluster Finland (SGC Finland) is a network of companies developing products with a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. SGC Finland is working within sub-clusters of learning, wellbeing, environment, gamification and simulation.
      • Serious Games Institute URL
        The Serious Games Institute (SGI) is an international centre for excellence in serious games applied research, business engagement and study. SGI is an operating division of Coventry University and supported by European Union.
      • Serious Game Industry URL
        The Serious Game Industry is the destination site for the business of gamification and serious gaming.
      • Serious Games Society URL
        The Serious Games Society (SGS) is the think tank where the future of games for learning can be discussed and put in practice. The mission of society is to bring together the cutting edge companies, institutions and individuals researching on and developing serious games.
      • Serious Games Network URL
        The main objective of the Serious Games Network (SEGAN) is to create a stable consortium to exchange ideas and experiences related to serious games. Project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
      • Serious Games Classification URL
        This site is a collaborative classification system suited to serious games, based on multiple criterias. The games are classified according to their gameplay, their purposes, their markets and target audience, alongside with user-contributed keywords.
      • The Center for Digital Games Research URL
        The Center for Digital Games Research is focused on how people process game experiences and how to design more impactful and effective games. The serious game archive of this institute includes over 400 health games.
      • RAGE project URL
        RAGE (Realising an Applied Gaming Ecosystem) aims to develop, transform and enrich advanced technologies from the leisure games industry into self-contained gaming assets that support game studios at developing applied games easier, faster and more cost-effectively. Project is funded by European Union.
      • BEACONING project URL
        BEACONING (Breaking Educational Barriers with Contextualized Pervasive and Gameful Learning) focuses on "anytime anywhere" learning by exploiting pervasive, context-aware and gamified techniques and technologies, framed under the problem-based learning approach. Project is funded by European Union.
      • Game Learning Analytics: Learning Analytics for Serious Games URL
        A book about serious games learning analytics. Keywords: Serious games, Game learning analytics, Learning analytics, Game analytics and Educational standards.
      • The International Journal of Serious Games URL
        The International Journal of Serious Games (IJSG) publishes original papers of significant and lasting value in all areas related to design, development, deployment and assessment of digital serious games.
      • Serious Games at Work URL

        A serious gaming site including information, examples, success stories and resources.

      • Extra Credits URL
        YouTube channel containing extensive collection of videos about the game development.
      • Guidelines for an Effective Design of Serious Games URL
        The journal arcticle presents the best practices of serious games design based on pedagogical theories and learning models.
      • A Theoretical Framework for Serious Game Design: Exploring Pedagogy, Play and Fidelity and their Implications for the Design Process URL
        The journal article focuses on the balance of theories from two fields of practice: pedagogy and game design. Article explores a triadic theoretical framework for serious game design comprising play, pedagogy and fidelity.
      • Tools and Methods for Efficiently Designing Serious Games URL
        The conference article details the design of serious games and proposes authoring tools that can be used to carry out the tasks of the design process.
      • Design Patterns in Serious Games: A Blue Print for Combining Fun and Learning URL
        The article focuses on six design patterns of serious games based on the analysis of 12 serious games.
      • Essential Features of Serious Games Design in Higher Education URL
        The article focuses on how learning design features and game properties can be planned, designed and implemented by university teachers interested in using games for teaching and learning in higher education.
      • Serious Games Examples File

        Collection of serious games. Examples of this document have been presented or mentioned in following books:

        Dörner, R., Göbel, S., Effelsberg, W. & Wiemeyer, J. 2016. Serious Games. Foundations, Concepts and Practice. http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319406114

        Routledge, H. 2015. Why Games Are Good For Business. How to Leverage the Power of Serious Games, Gamification and Simulations. http://www.palgrave.com/la/book/9781137448965