Experience 4-H: Game Design

 

Groups of 3-5 young people in grades 6-12 are invited to create their own game to promote social awareness. Find a challenge in your community that your game will address. You don’t have to solve all the problems, bringing awareness is just as important!

Requirements:

Create a notebook using Evernote and submit the shared link to rhaselby@purdue.edu when finished

Notebook Guidelines

  1. The name of your game
  2. The name of each team member
  3. The county your team represents
  4. The name of your 4-H Volunteer-mentor

  1. What is your community challenge?
  2. What steps did you take to address this challenge?

  1. Who is the audience for your game?
  2. How did you decide who your audience should be?

  1. If your game addresses a problem, it likely has a plot.
  2. How do you handle the plot?
    1. What kind of emotions are you trying to reach?
    2. What steps did you take to think through what the plot should be?
    3. How will you convey the plot to your users?

  1. What does each character look like
  2. Do the important characters have an origin story?
  3. Does your main character have a personality?  How do they act?

You can use any language however the product you turn in must be playable by someone outside your network.  

  1. It is recommended that you start in Scratch or another block-based program.   
  2. Your work must be commented.
  3. It is recommended that you use an online IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and you have a team login so that everyone can work together.  Commenting will help identify who wrote each section of code.
  4. Make sure that your program is shared and the link is part of your notebook.

Dates to remember:

  • Find your team - Jan 5 - Jan 25 (2-5 youth and 2 Adult volunteers)
  • Work on your project - Jan 25 - March 1
  • Kickoff - Jan 5th
  • Online Q&A - Jan 19th
  • Online Q&A - Feb 9th 
  • Submit digital notebook - April 1

Results announced at Gaming Convention at Purdue Fort Wayne April 9.

If your team is unable to attend, please join the results ceremony via zoom.

Tools/Sources

You can use any tools you’d like to solve coding problems or even find ideas.  Sources must be cited.

Suggested sources:

  1. csfirst.withgoogle.com (has a game design pathway)
  2. scratch.mit.edu (tutorials are available for most concepts)
  3. gamedesigning.org/category/learn/

Clover Gaming Connection

Love games? Check out Indiana 4-H's Clover Gaming Connection. Talk with your local 4-H educator about starting a Clover Gaming experience near you!

Learn more