Game Architecture: Delivering Meaningful Learning Experiences

Recent research haschallenged the traditional assumption that games are the antithesis of seriouswork (see the References at the end of this article). Some characteristics ofgames can be used creatively to close a knowledge gap, deliver skill training,or create a change of attitude by means of contextualized practice, invitationto action, and self-assessment of decisions. Therefore, games emerge as aninteresting alternative to offer more meaningful and engaging learningexperiences.

It’s all about creating experiences

The ultimate goal of a gamedesigner is to deliver an experience. When people play video games, theyexperience different feelings; they attain different goals by facingchallenges. They overcome conflicts in order to solve the problems posed by thegame. In doing so, they can defeat their opponents or be defeated. Of course,this happens in an artificial world, but when comparing the type of experiencesshaped by video games, I find that some of them can faithfully emulate real-lifesituations and that is what can make these alternative realities so powerful.

In his book The Art of Game Design. A Book of Lenses,Jesse Schell maintains that every game designer should try to build in theessence of the experience they want to create. In order to identify thoseessential features, Schell proposes that designers attempt to view games fromdifferent perspectives, that is, through different lenses. Some of these lensescould also help instructional designers create their next educationalexperience by incorporating some interesting ingredients from the gaming world.

What makes an experience memorable, special, and unique?

Every memorable experienceis defined by key features. As architects of experiences, we need to recreatethose features in our design in order to arouse feelings of joy and tension, asense of curiosity and fun, surprises and challenges. But how do youeffectively recreate those key features in order to maximize the impact of theexperience? First, you need to consider your audience’s characteristics: theirlikes, motivations, needs, and expectations. That information will help you toidentify the endogenous value of your design, i.e., what your audience mightfind within the game that is important to them. Once you know why your audiencemay care about that experience, you can think of a definite goal and a problemchallenging enough to keep their interest and, eventually, to lead them to achange of attitude or a higher level of knowledge, expertise, or skill.

What does it take to create an experience?

According to Schell, games are constructed by the interrelation of four basic elements: mechanics, story,aesthetics, and technology.

Build the structure: conceive the mechanics

Mechanics arethe directions and procedures that will enliven your experience. Mechanicsinclude space, objects, attributes, states, actions, rules, and skills.

• Space, objects, attributes, and states. These elements constitute the world your audience willinteract with and the artifacts they can manipulate within that space. To add dynamicsand interest to your experience, think about the objects, their attributes(characteristics), possible states for each attribute, and what could trigger statechanges. For example, what types of progress indicators are you going to use?Tokens? Scoreboards? How are they going to change as the levels of challengeincrease?

• Actions. Whatcan the learners do? What can’t they do? Why? Can the goal(s) be achieved inmore than one way? These questions define the actions that the learners need to take in order to attain the ultimate goal ofthe experience you are designing.

• Rules.Rules govern the actions of the players. Rules are really the most fundamentalmechanic, according to Schell, since they “make possible all the othermechanics and add the crucial thing that makes a game a game—goals.” Havingconcrete, achievable, and rewarding goals will help you define your rules. For example,the learner should answer questions of growing complexity to find differenttokens and collect as many power tokens as possible by the end of the game (theultimate goal).

• Skills. Thismechanic shifts the focus from the game to the learners because it is their dexterity,coordination, memory, or puzzle-solving ability that we want to challenge,improve, and test. Schell suggests that you ask yourself these questions: Whatskills does my game require to create the experience I want? Does my gamedemand the right level of skills? Can learners improve their skills withpractice? How does the level of challenge increase? What is the maximum level ofchallenge? Does my game give a fair measurement of learner’s skills?

Fill up the structure: compose the story

“A good game is like a storymachine—generating sequences of events that are very interesting indeed,” accordingto Schell. Eloquent events can weave an enjoyable and unforgettable experience.To make this happen, give your audience the opportunity to experience differentchoices, challenges, and conflicts as they try to achieve goals so that newstories can arise.

Follow these tips to composethe story:

• Tip 1:Give your story unity—the problem that is presented in the first five minutesof the story is a driving force that has meaning all the way until the end.

• Tip 2: When you define the goal that the character will haveto achieve, also define the obstacles that he will try to overcome in order toreach that goal.

• Tip 3: Decide on what exactly you would like the learners todo in order to have an ideal experience. Set constraints and goals to get themto do it.

• Tip 4:Define and use characters’ traits to help the audience personalize the story.Use avatars with iconic qualities that let learners project themselves into thecharacter. Ask yourself the following questions that Schell offers whencreating your characters: What are the roles I need the characters to fill(mentor, assistant, tutor, etc.)? What types of characters would map well towhich roles? Do I need to change the characters to better fit the roles?

• Tip 5:Remember that powerful stories transform characters. How will each of yourcharacters change throughout the game? How will you communicate those changesto the learner? Is there a grand change or finale, more interesting thananything else? Remember that the changes need to be well thought-out to keepthe balance; they also need to be surprising yet believable to keep theinterest.

Beautify the structure: enhance the aesthetics

“Aesthetics are anincredibly important aspect of game design since they have the most directrelationship to a learner’s experience,” Schellsays. The truth is that we love to experiencethings of great beauty because they attract our attention and they make thewhole experience more delightful.

The interface is where learnerand game come together; it is an encounter point. For this reason, if youdesign a poor interface instead of enhancing the experience, you’ll be creatinga wall that will prevent the learner from becoming immersed in the world youhave created.

Consider some of these tipsto design the look and feel of your experience.

• Tip one:Theme your interface. Skeuomorphism principles are great to reach unification.You need to think about what you would like your interface to feel like if itwere real, and then you have to decide which elements will best create thatexperience.

• Tip two:In order to keep the right balance between simplicity and complexity, Schellsuggests that you ask yourself: What is the purpose of each element? Can theseelements serve more purposes? Can I combine elements that serve only onepurpose?

• Tip three: Once you have selected the most relevant interfaceelements, start designing each activity or puzzle. Remember that learnersshould be able to clearly visualize the first steps they need to take in ordersolve it.

• Tip four: Spot the best places and instances to display theinformation the learners need. The key question here is: What types ofinterface elements are best suited to my design and purposes (pop-up menus,progress bar, etc.)?

• Tip five: Schell says, “Theideal interface becomes invisible to the learner, letting the learner’simagination be completely immersed in the game world.” In order to ensure theinvisibility of the game UI, Schell offers the lens of transparency, and someof his questions could be reframed as: Does the interface let the learners dowhat they need to do? Is the interface simple enough that with practice, learnerswill be able to use is without thinking? Do new learners find the interfaceintuitive? If not, can it be made more intuitive? Would allowing learners tocustomize the controls help or hurt? Does the interface work well in allsituations, or are there cases when it behaves in ways that will confuse the learner?Does something confuse learners about the interface?

• Tip six: One of the main purposes of an interface is tocommunicate a message. That message can be an instruction, a reward, or achallenge that will allow the learners understand and enjoy the experience youhave created. In order to assess how and when you need to provide meaningfulfeedback through the interface, here are some of Schell’s questions that youcan use as guidance: What do learners need or want to know at this moment? Whatdo you want learners to feel at this moment? How can you give feedback thatcreates that feeling? What is the learner’s goal at this moment? What feedbackwill help them toward that goal? Is my interface giving the learner continuous andrelevant feedback for their actions?

Bring the structure to life: choose the right technology

If you have already built,filled up, and beautified the structure of your experience, selecting the righttechnology to make it happen should be an easy task. But technology does notonly refer to the latest advancements; it can be any material or interactionthat makes the experience possible, such as paper, markers, and so on.

“The technology isessentially the medium in which the aesthetics take place, in which themechanics will occur, and through which story will be told,” Schell notes. Thetechnology supports the objects, actions, and rules that define the experiencein order to amplify and reinforce the story and aesthetics that come out of thegame.

At this stage, you’ll needto analyze which technologies will help deliver the experience you want tocreate. The most important issue highlighted by Schell in this regard has to dowith those technologies that are used with mere decorative rather thanfoundational purposes: If you are using technologies in ways that are notfoundational, should you be using them at all? Remember that our ultimate goalas architects of experiences is to create meaningful games or courses in no wayconfined or hampered by constraints of the medium (i.e., technologies) thatdelivers them.

Summary

I think that the lens or considerations that Schellthoroughly describes in his book could be used to analyze a broader spectrum ofapplications—not just games—and could be the foundation to define the structureof your next project, either an educational game or a course. His guidelines canbe very useful as a way to assure that your product delivers the experience forwhich you designed it.

References

Li, Zhuo, Feng Liu, and Jeff Boyer. ”Amusing Minds for Joyful Learning throughe-gaming.” Handbook of Research on e-Learning Methodologies for LanguageAcquisition, by Rita deCassia, Veiga Marriot, and Patricia Lupion Torres. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2009.

Rice, John (2007). “Assessing Higher Order Thinking inVideo Games.” Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 15(1), 93. The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 2007.

Schell, Jesse (2008). The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. Burlington, MA: MorganKaufmann Publishers, 2009.