Learning from Games
by Kaya Schmandt (11) and Suzanne Rozier (10)
Photographs taken by Sam Jaffee

On Tuesday, we went to the Demo called learning from games. First, we heard a brief introduction by Tim Shea, telling us that people like games because we like trivia, and that we have a desire of challenge. Chuck Clanton then came and explained to us what makes a good game. Games must be fun and engaging. They must be rich in content and complexity giving us a lot to learn. The designers must make sure that the interface does not get in the way.

There are three parts of the game: GAMEPLAY( the most important), GAME MECHANICS and USER INTERFACE. What are those? The GAMEPLAY is the mission of the game, so if the game was a flight simulation, the gameplay might be shooting down another plane. The game mechanics of the game are what the game is like and the user interface is the tools that you use (what keys you might press, etc...)

We also learned about two types of games: action and adventure. Action games involve hand and eye skill under time pressure, strategy and problem solving. In most action games, we need to drive the characters. Adventure games are all about exploring, usually under little or no time pressure. We spend a lot of time looking for things and solving puzzles, most of which take us to other places or broaden the plot. In most adventure games, you don't drive the character. Instead, you click on where you want to go and it takes you there.

The most important part of the games is that they must be fun. They DO have to relate to the "core" of the game, though. Even if you have a great idea, if it doesn't have anything to do with our theme, it can't be used.

After that, Chuck showed us two games. The first one was called "You Don't Know Jack". It started off with a sign on a white background that said "stand by". In the background, we could hear a voice of the host. As we typed in our names, we could hear his voice insulting us, saying things like "Did you leave your brain in the car" and some other comments that aren't very appropriate for a children's news paper. The first round was made up of questions ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. After that , we had the gibberish round, where had to make sense of a gibberish phrase. The last round was called "jack attack" where we had to find the correct word. The game was TV style, well designed, and very funny.

The second game was called "Age of Empires". This game involved a lot of strategy. One of the nice features of this game was that you could control the difficulty level. We would start in the prehistoric age, where we would build houses and pits to for food. We would also find stone to help us build. After a little while, we would progress to the next age. At the end of the game, we would have a battle with some other people.

I'm really glad I went to this session. The next time I sit down with a game, I'll think of CHI.