Lesson 1: Terms and Concepts

At the end of this lesson students will be able to:
Gamestar Episodes related to this lesson:          
Acquire and apply concepts about the elements of a game.
First Quest - Episodes 1 and 2

What's on for today:

Through the play and analysis of Gamestar Mechanic, students will learn the names and concepts behind the basic elements of a game.
Students will complete a matching game that connects the images in Gamestar to the terms used to describe the game.

What's Attached:
• Element Cards, pictures and descriptions. (one set per group)
• Element Card Answer Key


Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Set Up (5 minutes)

1. Explain to students that they will be playing Gamestar Mechanic, a game that will teach them how to design games. The first step to becoming a game designer is playing games!

2. In the computer lab, have the students log-in to Gamestar Mechanic.

Play - Gamestar Mechanic (30 minutes)

1. Allow students to play through the first Gamestar Mechanic quest, episodes 1 and 2.
They can play individually or in partners. If they play in partners, make sure they take turns playing the games.

Encourage the students to help each other and ask each other questions if they have trouble with a level.

2. After 30 minutes, have students finish up. If they did not finish episodes 1 and 2, encourage them to finish after class or for homework.

Play - Element Card Game (15 minutes)

1. Divide students into groups of 3 or 4. Hand each group a set of element cards (both pictures and names).

2. Tell the groups to match the image to its correct title. (You can choose to make this activity into a race and declare the group who first matches all the cards correctly the winner).

3. Check their answers with the Element Card Answer Key.

Discuss (15 minutes)

1. Ask students if there are any terms that are unclear and elicit definitions.

Some terms that are more difficult to define may be: scrolling space, wraparound space, unbounded space, environmental vs. damage block.

New words may be: avatar, frag counter.

Circle Up (5 minutes)

1. Ask the students: how was your first experience with Gamestar Mechanic?

2. What part of the game was most fun? Most difficult?

Encourage students to use the new terms they learned from the Element Cards while discussing their experience.

How did it go?

Were students able to identify some of the key terms describing the system of a game?

Were students able to complete the Element Card matching game?

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