Educational Game Design Fundamentals: A Journey to Creating Intrinsically Motivating Learning Experiences / Edition 1

by George Kalmpourtzis

Overview

Can we learn through play? Can we really play while learning?

Of course! But how?!

We all learn and educate others in our own unique ways. Successful educational games adapt to the particular learning needs of their players and facilitate the learning objectives of their designers.

Educational Game Design Fundamentals embarks on a journey to explore the necessary aspects to create games that are both fun and help players learn. This book examines the art of educational game design through various perspectives and presents real examples that will help readers make more informed decisions when creating their own games. In this way, readers can have a better idea of how to prepare for and organize the design of their educational games, as well as evaluate their ideas through several prisms, such as feasibility or learning and intrinsic values.

Everybody can become education game designers, no matter what their technical, artistic or pedagogic backgrounds. This book refers to educators and designers of all sorts: from kindergarten to lifelong learning, from corporate training to museum curators and from tabletop or video game designers to theme park creators!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138631540
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/06/2018
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

George Kalmpourtzis is an award-winning game designer and educator. Finding himself between the fields of education, game studies and user experience, he has been founder, director and board member of several European design studios. He has designed and produced numerous games for computers, consoles, virtual and augmented reality and he is constantly on a journey to discover new opportunities to play! George has been working as a consultant for corporations and non-government institutions around the world, identifying play as a key aspect of human expression and communication. George also holds bachelor's degrees both in education and engineering, a master's degree in information systems and a PhD in design pedagogy.

Table of Contents

Section I - Educational game design essentials. Ch 1. Designing learning experiences. Ch 2 The magic powers of the game designer. Ch 3 Pedagogy and Games. Section II -Let's make a Game! Ch 4 IThe Game Core. Ch 5 Where to Start. Ch 6 Let's Make a Game!. Ch 7 A closer look at game mechanics. Ch 8. Games as reflection tools. Ch 9 IKnowing Your Audience. Ch 10. The dynamics of single player and multiplayer games. Ch 11 Storytelling. Section III - Level Up!.Ch 12 12. Games as systems of information, Ch 13 13. Game aesthetics. Ch 14 14. Game testing and feedback. Ch 15 Game Over

Editorial Reviews

"The book is essential for game and learning designers alike as it blends learning principles, strategies and models with game elements, mechanics and dynamics in intuitive ways for achieving a balance between learning and fun while the player is striving to discover a meaningful purpose through playing."

-Petros Lameras, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Serious Games at Coventry University, UK.

"In his breathtaking book Educational Game Design Fundamentals, George Kalmpourtzis not simply presents a comprehensive how-to guide to designing and building world-class educational experiences, but rather weaves together a culmination of lessons and insights- both from years working within the industry to talking to some of the best and brightest minds pushing the frontiers on how humans continue to evolve and learn. This is a must read for anybody interested in taking part in one of the most exciting ventures of human ingenuity and evolution to date; one that stands to fundamentally change the nature of what it means to be a human being alive at the dawn of the 3rd millennium."

- Ryan Gerber, User Experience Designer, Vive Virtual Reality

"The book is essential for game and learning designers alike as it blends learning principles, strategies and models with game elements, mechanics and dynamics in intuitive ways for achieving a balance between learning and fun while the player is striving to discover a meaningful purpose through playing."

-Petros Lameras, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Serious Games at Coventry University, UK.

"In his breathtaking book Educational Game Design Fundamentals, George Kalmpourtzis not simply presents a comprehensive how-to guide to designing and building world-class educational experiences, but rather weaves together a culmination of lessons and insights- both from years working within the industry to talking to some of the best and brightest minds pushing the frontiers on how humans continue to evolve and learn. This is a must read for anybody interested in taking part in one of the most exciting ventures of human ingenuity and evolution to date; one that stands to fundamentally change the nature of what it means to be a human being alive at the dawn of the 3rd millennium."

- Ryan Gerber, User Experience Designer, Vive Virtual Reality

From the Publisher