Metafocus: André Thomas Discusses Learning Game Development

In my last Metafocus column, I interviewed André Thomas,founder and CEO of Triseum, an educational game company. Our discussion continues below, withan exploration of the educational game development process. The interview hasbeen edited for length and clarity. Enjoy!

Matt Sparks: How long did it take you to build the ARTé: Mecenas and Variant: Limits games? How many people worked onthese games, and did they work full-time or part-time? How did you know thatthe university needed a game like this?

André Thomas: Both games were in research, design, and development formore than two years. A total of 45 people worked on ARTé: Mecenas, and 73 people worked on Variant: Limits,including faculty, students, researchers, and professionals. Some workedfull-time and some part-time. Since both games started at the university with aclearly established need expressed by its educators, our team at Triseumunderstood the role these games could play in helping the university solve aproblem. The demand was there.

MS: How much game design did the content experts (i.e., art historyand calculus teachers) have to learn, and how much content expertise did thegame designers and developers have to learn? Were they able to work togethereasily? What difficulties came up between them, if any, and how did you solvethem?

AT: It is truly a collaborative process. At Triseum, we initiate our game designprocess with the end goal in mind; that is, what do we want students to learn?This is more commonly known as the student learning objective (SLO). This iswhere our subject matter experts do a lot of the heavy lifting. We tie all ofour SLOs to Bloom’s Taxonomy to ensure the highest levels ofeducational pedagogy.

Together with ourinstructional designers and our subject matter experts, we research whatprerequisite knowledge students must have, and determine what content should beincluded in the game in order to achieve the SLOs. We also anticipate learners’behavior and how they will use their knowledge to navigate the game. Oursubject matter experts and instructional designers then determine how thestudents will be evaluated on the SLOs and which creative activities orassessments are the most appropriate to demonstrate mastery.

Our game designersget a thorough review of the SLOs, content, and assessments so they can thenbrainstorm ideas and determine which narrative and activities work best. Thecollaboration continues as we collectively review concept art, game design,documentation, and multiple rounds of prototypes to ensure the academic rigorand efficacy of each game, but also the intuitive nature, playability, andoverall fun factor. As you can see, our game designers learn a lot of thecontent during the development process, and our subject matter experts learnjust as much about game design.

MS: Variant: Limits and ARTé: Mecenas have very different user interfaces (UIs).Variant: Limits uses a player-controlled avatar that runs around solvingproblems in a virtual world. In contrast, ARTé: Mecenas has no flashyvisuals or physical action and plays more like a board game. The UIconsists of a virtualdesk, a series of letters, records of various resources, and a map ofRenaissance Europe. How do you decide what UI and type of game play to use witha given topic, field of study, or course material?

AT: Decisions about the UI and course of game play happen in the LIVE(Learning Interactive Visual Experience) Lab [in the Department ofVisualization at Texas A&M University’s College of Architecture]. Since wealways start by defining learning objectives and assessments, it takes time todetermine what interface will be most appropriate. After we have defined theSLOs and assessments, we start prototyping and testing different game mechanics(mostly with paper) that would allow the player to achieve the SLOs. Once wehave something promising, we look at what an appropriate interface might lookand feel like, and we start prototyping that and testing it with our end users(i.e., students).

MS: Is there any topic or type of topic that you’d like to turn into agame but simply can’t figure out how? What makes it difficult?

AT: If there is a subject matter that we want to pursue, we’ll doeverything we can to make it happen. I would say we are less challenged by thesubject matter itself, and more focused on what it takes to transform it into agame that mirrors the quality of games that students are accustomed to playing.Entertainment games today are highly dynamic and realistic. We want our gamesto meet the student’s digital literacy expectations, and we want them toreflect the same levels of sophistication, suspense, and interactivity as popularcommercial games do. Not all academic games are created equal, and it is ourjob to create something that students are motivated to play again and again.

MS: What makes for a good topic that can be more easily turned into anengaging and effective game?

AT: If you think back to your early education days, games have alwaysplayed an important role in terms of knowledge acquisition, but also in makinglearning fun and relatable. We believe wholeheartedly that learning doesn’thave to be a static, one-way experience. Well-designed games igniteinteractivity and enticestudents to play and play again. You would be hard pressed to argue that thisapproach can’t also be productive in an education setting in later academicyears.

At Triseum, we don’tdeliberately choose a subject because it would make for a good game; rather, wechoose a subject because it is something that students struggle to master. Forexample, calculus ranks number one on the list of courses most disliked bystudents, and Calculus I has incredibly high failure rates. Our goal with our Variant calculus series is to transformthe experience so that more students can succeed and have fun in the process.

In terms of arthistory, this is a subject where we see far too much memorization withoutcontextual understanding. By immersing students in the time period where theyassume the role of a pivotal figure, they gain a far deeper comprehension ofthe artwork and its role in society.

MS: How do you handle assessment and track game efficacy? How do youknow the games are working?

AT: Research and testing are at the heart of everything we do, andour team has become really well-versed in making sure this flows through theentire production process, not just the initial concepts. Play testing is the true measure of howthe game will be received. During the entire game development process, ourlearning team collaborates with faculty and students to test the viability ofour games. We are primarily testing for two things: Does the game make sense(what are students learning)? And, does the game engage and motivate (is itfun)? Testing helps us balance learning design and game design so that studentsare, in fact, comprehending and retaining information, but they are alsoengaged and motivated to play the game time and time again.

Once our games are released into themarket, we continue to conduct research and efficacy studies. For example,results from a joint IRB (institutional review board)-approved research studywith Texas A&M University in fall 2016 showed that, after approximately twohours playing ARTé: Mecenas, studentsin the experimental group had a knowledge gain of nearly 25 percent frompre-test to post-test. Additionally, in pre-test and post-game-play surveyswith university calculus students, 79 percent of students agreed that Variant: Limits increased theirknowledge of limits and 83 percent of students reported they were able to applytheir knowledge from the game in class. Data like this was instrumental inTexas A&M’s decision to pursue the games as credit-bearing courses.

MS: What do the students say about your games? How do you or will youcollect and use student feedback to iterate future versions? [In response tothis question, Thomas shared some of the responses to the games; these areexcerpted below.]

AT: Both student and faculty feedback on our games has been amazing,not only validating our work but also spurring new ideas and guiding futureversions. In fact, our early adopter program allows students to preorderand play-test early versions, share feedback, and see their names listed in thegame credits.

Studentshave said of ARTe: Mecenas that theyare “impressed by the responsiveness and presentation,” and that they liked howthe game was not only fun but also improved their problem-solving skills.Students also tell us that they appreciated the well-thought-out story line and“enjoyed trying to figure out strategies to succeed in the game.”

Ourcalculus game Variant: Limits hasalso received some glowing reviews. Student comments include: “The concept of the game as a whole wasvery intriguing and refreshing,” “I found myself wanting to advance because Iwanted to know how the story ended,” and “It felt like a real game and not amath game.”

Educators, too, are excited about our games. Tim McLaughlin, department head and associate professor inthe department of visualization, College of Architecture, Texas A&MUniversity, said: “Through playing ARTé:Mecenas, our students are driven to think more critically and connect withthe content on a more profound level. What really resonates is their excitementfor the game and their motivation to master the subject matter.”

Of Variant:Limits, Texas A&Mmathematician Dr. Paulo Lima-Filho said, “Whileplaying the game, your mind is constantly engaged in thinking mathematically.It’s enjoyable and challenging at the same time.”