Digital Game Design projects should include original content, design, and rules of an interactive game.
Students may use the software program of their choice in order to demonstrate creativity, originality, organization, and interactivity. Students should be able to explain to judges what inspired their game idea and how they programmed their game to achieve project goals.
Software may include but not limited to:
You may have up to 2 people on a team but teams and individuals will compete against each other within each grade grouping. Regardless of the length of the project, judging time is 15 minutes. Judges may only view a portion of the actual project.
Judges will use the Digital Game Design category rubric as a guideline for exemplary characteristics of projects in this category. Students should use the rubric as a guide for what judges are looking for.
Examples:
In the Game Art & Design Students' Games(YouTube) video by Syl Bero, we see and hear a number of students discussing games that have or are creating.
Additional resources:
- BrainPOP Educators has compiled and shares a list of Game Making And Design Tools. Among their favorites are:
- Aris Games
- Game Maker
- Game Salad
- Gamestar Mechanic
- Globaloria
- Minecraft Edu
- Pixel Press
- MIT's Scratch
- Tynker
- Consider using Minecraft Edu to craft a game. 9th grade teacher Dan Bloom shares advice in his 2013 Edutopia article, The Minecraft Cell: Biology Meets Game-Based Learning.
- In his May 2014 article, What Game-Based Learning Can Do for Student Achievement, EdSurge writer Justin Eames discusses the power of Game-Based Learning (GBL) and shares examples of starter games (a great source of ideas for new games).
- The Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI) holds a contest in which individual 13 years of age or older may participate. Aspiring gamers may find it worthwhile to exploreMassDiGi's judging process (for ideas about what constitutes a successful game) as well as games created by MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program Students.
