The Game Jam Guide

The Game Jam Guide
Sara Cornish, Matthew Farber, Alex Fleming, Kevin Miklasz
Carnegie Mellon University: ETC Press

Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright by Matthew Farber, Sara Cornish, et al. and ETC Press 2017 http://press.etc.cmu.edu/
TEXT: The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivative 2.5 License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/)
IMAGES: All images appearing in this work are property of the respective
copyright owners, and are not released into the Creative Commons. The respective owners
reserve all rights.
Cover Illustration by SpazeCraft One

http://sohnup.com #visualsbyspazecraft
Contents
PART I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Games for Change Student Challenge

2. Moveable Game Jams
3. A Brief History of Game Jams
Sande Chen
PART II. HOW TO RUN A GAME JAM
4. General Game Jam Format

5. Three Introductory Activities
Picture Talk, You are the Game, Hack Tic Tac Toe
6. Tips and Tricks for Running a Successful Moveable Game Jam
PART III. UNIVERSAL GAME JAM ACTIVITIES
7. Remixing Fluxx (Card Game)

Theme-able Activities
8. Classic Character Makeovers (Drawing)
9. Its the Remix (Scratch)
10. Games Based on Movies (Board Games)
Design Process Focused Activities
11. PixelPress and iPads (PixelPress)
12. Sonic Scavenger Hunt and Monster Mash-Up (Yellofier Electrified)
13. Modding Pong (Scratch)
Modding Focused Activities
14. Modding Musical Chairs (Physical Game)
15. BrickBreakers (Stop Motion Video)
PART IV. CLIMATE CHANGE GAME DESIGN ACTIVITIES
16. Time Travel Climate Game (Twine)

17. Polar Dash (Scratch)
18. Makey Making it Green (Makey Makey)
19. Snakes Are Spreading (HTML CSS Javascript)
PART V. LOCAL STORIES AND IMMIGRANT VOICES GAME

DESIGN ACTIVITIES
20. Code Switch Conundrum (Scratch)

21. ThemeWeavers (Card Game)
22. Lets Grow a Game (Gamestar Mechanic)
23. An Immigration Breakout (Escape Room Game)
24. Map Building (HTML CSS)
About the Editors
Acknowledgements
About the ETC Press
PART I
Introduction
Welcome to the Game Jam Guide, a comprehensive handbook that will help you organize and
run interactive, hands-on game design activities for students around real-world issues!
This guide includes over 20 unique lessons and activities developed by digital learning
organizations in the Hive NYC network. The lessons can be used individually, to inspire new
curricular tools, or for game jam events. This curriculum was used in four Moveable Game Jams
that were run in 2016-2017 as part of the Games for Change (G4C) Student Challenge, an
annual game design program for students in cities across the United States.
Each activity in this guide has been implemented and iterated on based on student feedback
into a one hour lesson plan. The guide is meant to be a resource to educators running game
design activities with their students, and show the potential of teaching game design using
real-world stories, issues and assets.
This document has two sections: the first section includes background about the G4C Student
Challenge and social issue game themes, Moveable Game Jams, and a description of the game
jam format used in 2016-17 and the second section contains 16 activities developed in 2016-17
as well as some of the best activities used in past game jams. In the guide, we reference several
handouts, and either link to those documents original locations or to this openly shared
Google Drive
Folder (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9kunZCntE5HeXZ0SkgxLTBWMU0).
1
The Games for Change Student Challenge
A game jam is a gathering of people youth, adults, professional game developers, or really
anyone to design and prototype one or more games in a short timespan. The model is
similar to that of a hackathon, where participants have a limited amount of time to work on a
project using an iterative design process.
The Moveable Game Jam is an innovative take on the game jam event model, developed by a
team of learning and game experts in NYC. Moveable Game Jams are one-day events where
students come together to play, hack and make games in activity stations facilitated by
learning partners and subject area experts. A group of Hive NYC organizations have been
collaboratively running Moveable Game Jams since 2014. In 2016-17, four Moveable Game
Jams were run as a part of the G4C Student Challenge in NYC, with themes that aligned with
the Challenges three social issue topics.
The game jam activities in this guide can be used as one-off lessons, to help you facilitate
game jams, or used for other learning events. We encourage you to be creative, and adapt them
to your needs!
The Moveable Game Jam event has three main components:
All students engage in guided activities that introduce them to some basic game design
principles.
Students choose to engage in one or two of four available stations, each of which contains
a different game design activity and is run by a different organization. This component
comprises the bulk of the time in the game jam. This component will have different
organizations running different of stations in each game jam, thus making both the
content and location movable.
There is a final showcase event in which students show the games that they have made to
parents and other students in some kind of format that makes sense for the space. In total,
a typical moveable game jam can run for 3-4 hours.
The events in this document also add a fourth element to the game jam- they added a theme
around which to design games, and all game stations were related to that theme in some way.
This extended to total time of the event to 6 hours by added lectures and activities in the
morning by theme-based experts.
2
Moveable Game Jams
Everyone involved benefits, and Moveable Game Jams bring many stakeholders together around
creative game making. Students get to pursue interests in gaming in a constructive context that
builds valuable 21st century skills. Organizations and educators get to share ideas and
workloads, connecting and supporting each others students as well as learning best practices
from each other. And educators also get to try out new activities with interested students.
The skills in the P21 Framework for 21st Century Learning (http://www.p21.org/about-
us/p21-framework) align with current game-based learning research. The P21 Framework
includes the necessary skills students should possess to be able to compete in todays global
economy, which include critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration,
creativity, and innovation.
The interconnected systems of games model 21st century skills, such as design thinking and
systems thinking. According to Rufo-Tepper, Salen, Shapiro, Torres, & Wolozin
(https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/quest-learn), when students are making and playing games,
they pay explicit attention to the status of games as dynamic learning systems, as rule-based
models supporting specific ways of knowing and doing. The ability to understand
interconnected systems is a 21st century skill that games can be used to teach effectively. As the
Framework for 21st Century Learning states (http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework), a
systems thinker is able to analyze how parts of a whole interact with each other to produce
overall outcomes in complex systems.
Playing, modifying existing rules, and designing new games are methods to teach systems
thinking experientially. Part of the engagement of games includes the persistence required to
find solutions to meaningful problems. Game-based learning proponents note the potential
games have in bolstering a childs creativity, innovative thinking, and problem solving abilities
all of which are 21st century skills. The Moveable Game Jam model was specifically designed
as a low cost format that could boost these 21st century skills as much as possible in a one-off
event.
3
A Brief History of Game Jams
Sande Chen
On any given weekend, there is a game jam happening somewhere in the world. Professionals
and students alike converge on these game jam sites to further their skills, to foster community,
and to experiment with game design. These game jams may focus on a social cause or a
specific technology. The developers may want to explore a theme and use a word or some
starting point to spark creativity. No matter the direction, the goal of the participants is to create
a playable game within the constraints in a relatively short period of time.
The earliest known game jam, dubbed the 0th Indie Game Jam, was founded by Chris Hecker
and Sean Barrett in March 2002. Intent on encouraging innovation and experimentation
within the game industry, they invited a select crowd of well-known designers and
programmers to develop games for a specialized engine. Indie Game Jam, which continued in
subsequent years, tended to focus on technology-driven constraints. Participants worked on
their own, on multiple projects, or in a team.
The following month, in April 2002, Ludum Dare (from the Latin To give a game), the first
virtual game jam, was launched. The idea for it had grown organically from the Internet forum
of the same name. Ludum Dare, which now has solo and team tracks, challenges participants to
create a game based on a theme rather than conforming to a technological constraint. Themes
are suggested and voted on by the Ludum Dare community. Its community also determines
which games are the winners, according to various judging standards. Though source code is
required to be uploaded, participants retain all rights to their games. In more recent years,
participants have broadcast livestreams on Twitch or created a time-lapse video of their game
development progress during the event.
These early examples from 2002 were informal affairs. Nordic Game Jam, which would later
grow to be one of the largest single-site game jams in the world, began in 2006 as a
collaboration between the Denmark chapter of the International Game Developers Association
(IGDA), IT University of Copenhagen, and local game companies. The organizers there
emphasized the spirit of collaboration and sometimes would not release the theme until teams
were formed. Once given the theme and restrictions, teams had just 48 hours to complete a
working prototype. Participants of all skill levels were encouraged to come, stressing the
educational aspect of the game jam.
Inspired by Indie Game Jam, Ludum Dare, and Nordic Game Jam, Global Game Jam (GGJ)
holds the Guinness World Record for the largest game jam in the world. Founded by Susan
Gold, Ian Schreiber, and Gorm Lai in 2008, GGJ is a multi-site game jam with many of the
same characteristics of its predecessors. Participants may work alone, though teams are more
common, to create a game based on a theme and optional diversifiers. In 2017, over 36,000
participants in 702 sites in 95 countries attended, making over 7000 games in one weekend.
The games, all available for play on the GGJ site, range from tabletop games to virtual reality,
Kinect games, handhelds and tablets, console games, and traditional PC games.
Its clear why educators often recommend that aspiring game developers attend game jams. Not
only do the events foster creativity, collaboration, and community, but they also instill the fast
prototyping and iterative design culture found in many game companies. Participants learn
the lessons of failing early in order to perfect a game. They must work with teammates within
a time constraint and are exposed to a diverse set of skills and personalities. They come face to
face with production realities, which force them to decide which game features remain or must
go. There may not be any monetary gain from game jams, but the entire experience of
completing a game and learning from others may be priceless.
PART II
How to Run a Game Jam

4
General Game Jam Format
1. Intro icebreaker (30 min)

2. Theme partners presentation (90-120 min)
3. Lunch (30-45 min)
4. Introductory activity to the Principles of Game Design (30-45 min)
5. Open design time
Session 1 (50 min. at a station of the students choice)
Break (10 min)
Session 2 (50 min. at a second station of the students choice)
6. Feedback survey for students, Share Out prep time for staff (15 min)
7. Share Out event (30 min)
Based on the above agenda, a Moveable Game Jam event should go for about six hours. The
event has three essential components: an introductory section, an open design time, and a share
out. The theme partner presentation offers an ideal way to bring a theme to the event, but is not
necessary if you would like to run a shorter three- to four-hour event.
Introductory Section: This component starts with a welcome and introduction of staff, but the
majority of the time is spent in a game design activity. That activity serves two purposes, first
to act as an icebreaker, and second to introduce students to principles and terminology in game
design. Staff and students should be able to refer back to concepts and terms introduced in this
activity throughout the event.
As part of the introductory activity make sure students are familiar with the 5 parts of a
game, or sometimes called the 5 principles of game design:
SPACE: Where the game takes place.

GOAL: What is the objective of the game? What are you trying to do?
COMPONENTS: What are all the objects or actors in the game?
MECHANICS: What actions take place in the game. What are the verbs involved?
RULES: What can or cant you do in the game? What defines boundaries? Does play
happen in real time or do you take turns?
Be sure to ask students what they already know about these terms or see what educated
guesses they may have before giving the answers away.
Open Design Time: The meat of the event. Students choose stations to attend to build designs
of their choice. Student agency is important here, which means both allowing students choice
of where to go, and what to do at each station. No two student creations should look alike- this
is a chance for a student to create something new and original with staff guidance and support.
The main portion of this book describes activities to be used in this portion of the game jam.
Share Out Event: Facilitators, volunteers, and (if available) parents will spend the final 30
minutes checking out the students game designs in some kind of share out format. This
allows everyone a chance to both share their design with others, and to get personalized
feedback from other peers, staff, and parents.
5
Three Introductory Activities
Picture Talk, You are the Game, Hack Tic Tac Toe
This section describes three activities that are used with the whole group in the beginning of
the game jam section. These activities all have been thoroughly tested in the game jam model
and work well for this format. In particular, each of these activities has the following features: 1)
introduces students to the 5 principle of game design, 2) works well for any sized group of any
age, 3) is material-light, making it easy to do in any given space, and easy to clean up and
transition to the main activity section, 4) allows structured creativity in a short period of time,
and 5) fits in a 45 min period including time for a few groups to present their designs.
Whenever possible, we linked to outside documents needed for the activity to keep this guide as
concise as possible. We either linked to those documents original locations, or when necessary
we placed the documents in this openly shared Google Drive Folder
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9kunZCntE5HeXZ0SkgxLTBWMU0).
PICTURE TALK
(Originally developed by Institute of Play)
DESCRIPTION
A light, fun and very engaging introduction to games and game modding through group
play
SET-UP
Printed and cut out blank cards

Printed and cut out filled in cards
Pens, pencils, or colored pencils
Scratch paper
All materials and instructions for the game are in this folder:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/84ik13rotn04u81/AACO8Eb3BcdSF4RbxcD2kyZHa?dl=0
Activity
Introduce the 5 parts of a game. (10 min)

Call students up to play the game as the describer, explaining the rules. (10 min)
The entire group acts as the copiers.
Make sure to demo some easy, medium, and hard cards.
Alternatively, you can have kids play in small groups.
Task students with making some of their own cards. (10-15 min)
Pass out the blank cards at this point.
Note that in the framework, we are modding the game by making our own
components.
Students can then act as a describer for other student-made cards. (10-15).
Take the time after a correct guess to have the group reflect on what made that card
either a good or bad one, or what made it easy or difficult. Develop their ability to see
games with a critical eye.
YOU ARE THE GAME
(Originally developed by Kevin Miklasz and Alex Fleming specifically for Moveable Game Jams)
DESCRIPTION
A structured game design activity that allows students to design their own analog game,
played with their own body, by shaping the core elements of the game.
Allows ample space for each student game to be original and different from the rest,
without being too open-ended.
SET-UP
Scrap paper
Pencils, for writing down rules
Chart paper or whiteboard, with the following prewritten
SPACE: this room
GOAL: Get the most points
COMPONENTS: Hands, Feet, Paper
MECHANICS: Walking, Throwing, Guessing
RULES: ??
Activity

Introduce the constraint for their game. (5 min)
Bring out the whiteboard or chart paper. Note that the Space and Goals are already set
for their game, but we dont know what it means to get points and theyll need to
figure that out.
For the Components and Mechanics, their game has to involve at least one of the three
items listed for each of those categories (if can involve more than one). So the game
must be played with Hands, Feet, or Paper (pencils not allowed) and must involve
either Walking, Throwing or Guessing.
There are no constraints on the rules- they need to come up with whatever makes
their game work.
Break students into groups of 2-4 to design their game. (20 min)
Encourage creative thinking and remixing- one of the great parts of this activity is
how different every students game is, even though they start with the same
constraints!
Share out games. (10 min)
You can usually have 3-4 groups share out their game by explaining the rules and
demoing gameplay.
After the demo, make sure groups point out with components and mechanics they
chose to use.
HACK TIC TAC TOE
(Originally developed by Global Kids)
DESCRIPTION
A quick modding activity around a classic game, that is highly structured around the 5
parts of a game
A special note- this activity works equally well with Rock, Paper, Scissors, and then does
not require the scratch paper and pens/pencils
SET-UP
Pens, pencils, or colored pencils

Scratch paper
Whiteboard or chart paper, with the 5 principles of game design written on it
Activity

Have students play tic tac toe. (2 min)
Break tic tac toe into its game design principles on the whiteboard. (5 min)
Goal: Get 3 in a row
Space: 33 grid, on paper
Components: x, o, pencil, 2 players
Rules: take turns, if no one can play its a draw, etc
Mechanics: drawing
Challenge class to redesign this classic game. (3 min)
Note that this game isnt too fun- how could they change it to make it more fun?
Have students pick one principle of Tic Tac Toe to redesign, to make the game more
interesting. They will probably have to change more than just that one component to
make the game playable, but have them start with one thing they want to change
(change the Space by making a bigger grid, change the Rules by making
simultaneous turns), and then move on from there.
Students redesign tic tac toe in pairs. (15-20 min)
Share out of designs. (5-10 min)
You can usually have 3-4 groups share out their game by explaining the changes they
made and demoing gameplay
After the demo, make sure groups point out with principle they initially chose to
focus on, and what other principles they also had to change as a result
6
Tips and Tricks for Running a Successful Moveable Game Jam
Incorporating Playtesting
Playtesting is a crucial component to the events. We have tried many formats of encouraging
playtesting in our events, and no method has proven best. Sometimes playtesting is baked into
the station itself, sometimes playtesting has occurred outside the stations in a designated
playtesting space. Playtesting should always be done by the students creating the game, but
can also be done by other students at their station, other students at a different station, or by the
facilitators running the event or station. Playtesting can also be formalized or be done very
informal. Deciding between these concerns depends on the activities being used and the layout
of the physical space. But one thing that should always occur is that the facilitators should
reiterate a heavy emphasis on playtesting to students throughout the event.
Number of Stations
Its also worth noting that the activities themselves are meant to be very modular, and that any
given game jam could use any four activities, and that any given classroom or afterschool
setting could also incorporate these activities too. In this guide, the activities are grouped by
theme and so work well in these pairings for themed events. It has been noted that for a game
jam, it works well to give students sufficient choice to specialize in their interest, and 4 stations
really provide that best. Two or three stations dont really provide enough choice, and more
than four really creates greater staffing needs without necessarily addition benefits to student
agency. If you cannot run four stations, only running one station, especially with a smaller
group of students, is recommended.
Facilitation Tips
When creating and leading an activity make sure that you have both an easy entry point for a
student to engage in your activity with little to no previous experience, and more challenging
options for those who have some experience or who move through the content more quickly. It
can be difficult for young people to come up with ideas for activities that are too open ended, so
make sure to refine your activity so that the creative decisions are focused, for example, creating
a scratch game from the ground up can be intimidating to those who do not come to the event
with an idea in mind, but remixing an existing game by modifying one or two specific
mechanics is much more doable.
Whenever possible, try to take advantage of peer learning and peer leadership. Those who speed
through an activity can help explain what to do for those who are having trouble getting
started.
When leading an activity, make sure to stay engaged with each student as they are moving
through the activity, dont simply show them how to use a tool and expect them to fly
completely on their own. Students can benefit from guidance applied in small doses along the
way to being able to create their finished product. Check in periodically as they move through
the steps of the activity. Ask questions that connect the activity the 5 principles of game design
covered in the intro activity at the start of the day like What are the components of your
game? and What mechanics does your game have?
Sharing Out Student Work
Weve run several different share out formats. We typically choose the format based on the
layout of the space, the age group of students, the number of attendees, and the types of
activities used. Here are some of the formats used:
Group presentations: Students that want to present their games can do so in front of the entire
group. This format works best when your physical space has a stage that is viewable by all
participants, and when your participants are not shy presenters. This also works best with small
events- with larger events, you wont have the time to get to every student and some will feel left
out with this format.
Gallery Walk: The event organizers lead the entire group around from station to station. The
facilitators at each station describe what their station was about, and 1-3 students present their
work. Typically the facilitators will specifically reach out to students with particularly
interesting projects asking them to share, but like the first format will not give every student the
chance to share their work. This is also nice because it lets everyone see the work of every
station. This is probably the most flexible format that can work with most group sizes and age
groups and has been used the most by us as a result, though it cant work in every physical
space. It works especially well with stations that have one group-made game.
Science Fair: In this format, each student has the option to either a) stand by a station and
present their prototype or b) walk around and see other students prototypes. Facilitators and
parents also act as walkers. This format is scalable to any number of attendees, and works best
with stations that feature individual work. It also works well with younger students, who are
more likely to have parents show up and to want to show parents their individual work. This
also works best in places where all stations are in one open space, and its easy to walk between
stations. The biggest plus to this format is that every student who wants to share their work can
do so. A warning though: this is definitely the most chaotic share out format, but works great
when done well (there is such a thing as productive chaos).
Group discussion: Here, the event organizers prepare a few reflection questions to pose to the
group as a whole, and have students answer questions in a group discussion. This can work
with any number of attendees of any age and any station types, and works in most physical
spaces. The main issue is that it is probably the least engaging share out format and gives
students very little chance to showcase their actual work, and so we have mostly reserved this
one if none of the other share out formats are feasible, or if we run short on time.
PART III
Universal Game Jam Activities
This section describes nine activities that introduce different aspects of the game design process, in contrast to the later sections
that teach the game design process in reference to a specific social or civic issue. This section features good approachable
activities that allow practice of different specific elements of game design, or ones that act as good introductory activities to new
tools.
The first three activities (Remixing Fluxx, Classic Characters Makeovers and Its the Remix) are described in a generic way
in this book, but are easily adaptable to focus on different topics or themes, including the themes used in this years G4C Student
Challenge or any theme you might want to come up with. In other words, a thematic element can be added quite easily to these
highly flexible activities.
The next three activities (Games Based on Movies, PixelPress and iPads, and Sonic Scavenger Hunt and Monster Mashup)
offer an introduction to the beginning aspect of the game design process, idea formation and prototyping. These activities
focusing either on diving deeply into one specific aspect of games design (like level design with PixelPress with Ipads or audio
with Sonic Scavengers), or focusing in a broad way on developing game concepts into mechanics (like in Games Based on
Movies).
The final three activities (Mod a Classic Video Game: Pong, Modding Musical Chairs, and BrickBreaker) are all focused on
modding, or changing up, existing games. By starting with a well-formed game, student are able to learn about games as
systems, and how changing one element requires rebalancing other elements to keep the game well structured. This focuses
more on the later stages of the game design process: improving an existing design through iteration.
7
Remixing Fluxx (Card Game)
(Originally developed by AJ Webster & Christy Durham; Presented by Matthew Farber & Kevin
Miklasz)
AGE
Elementary/Middle School
GOAL(S)
Kids redesign a version of the card game Fluxx, based around a specific theme
SET-UP
Printed blank card sheets

Pens, colored pencils
Index cards labeled for each suit: Keeper, Goal, Action, New Rule
Black markers
8 copies of Fluxx 5.0 (http://www.looneylabs.com/games/fluxx)
Comparison chart showing all the main Actions and New Rules in all Fluxx versions, and
which versions have which cards. Youll see that many decks have many cards in common,
though they dont all include EVERY Action or New Rule weve come up with
Authors Note: This is a chart of what we have loosely called complexity factors for each
version. It also includes the ratio of card types for each version, so you can see there is
some variation there as well: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1npMl3jGhQr-
HpTAtQAtvk-NLSTk2lmbZ-McMtXtDCt8/edit?usp=sharing
WARM-UP
Introduce Fluxx, and have 4 students play a round of the game, while everyone else
watches. (15 min)
Break game into 5 components, following what happened in the intro activity. (5-10 min)
Goal Match your keepers to a goal card
Components The cards in the deck
Space Hands of cards and play area
Rules Draw 3, play 1. Plus new rules added by the components
Mechanics Drawing and playing cards
MAIN ACTIVITY (30 min)
Students begin redesigning their game as a group. They should start with designing the
Components or Nouns. Then can work on the Rules, or Verbs.
Explain that for this activity, the Mechanics, Space, Goal, and base rules will stay the same.
It is their job to redesign the game by Changing the components (i.e. cards) in the deck.
This can involve adding new rules, and will definitely involve adding new goal and keeper
cards (though the way to win stays the same).
You can encourage students to subdivide tasks. For example, each group may want a
producer who keeps track of all the changes being made on a sheet, and writer who
writes names on the cards and writes out the rules and an artist who makes the
drawings on the cards. All team members should be encouraged to brainstorm together, at
least in the beginning of the period. Towards the end, they might focus more on their
individual roles.
The selection of themes is a pretty adaptable part of the lesson. You can constrain or leave
open the selection of topics as much as you wish. For example, the themes can be as
specific as something we covered in biology in the last week or more general like Based
around some book that you have recently read to having no constraints at all. Id
recommend supplying a theme, as having students make a choice about the theme can
often consume an overly large period of time, and potentially not add that much to the
experience.
If you offer no constraints, you may want to offer a few example themes, or have a poorly
constructed deck made to illustrate the idea, but done poorly so that students feel inspired
to make their own idea rather than copy yours. For example, maybe you make a theme of
colors, with the keeper cards being sets of complimentary colors. Heres another example
of a not so simple one, done on the theme of Hamlet.
Authors Note: The biggest takeaway was how big a deck has to be to be playable- in an
hour, a group of 5 students working on the same deck theme made about 30 cards, which
was a relatively productive hour. They tried playtesting the game, but simply had too few
cards to play. Online research revealed that the developers of the game recommend about
100 card in a set (with certain ratios of card types). After the second group made cards for
another hour, on the same theme as the first group, we then had enough cards for a
playable game (or at least for one that wasnt too broken due to too few cards). Having
both groups contribute to one game idea worked well.
Overall, this station had a very nice and direct link to themes, and it can accommodate
many different kind of themes (as the game itself was made in exactly that way). For a
theme-aligned station, you can simply select the theme ahead of time, and then have the
students work on making one combined deck for that theme. In our experience a group of
15 or so students can make a full 100 card deck in about an hour.
If time allows, let groups playtest each others game and offer feedback.
Question prompts:
What makes these keepers similar or different?
How can you sort them into groups?
I see you have used this keeper in one goal- are there any other cards it is also related
to, so that it can fit into two goals?
What are some major disasters in your theme?
What are key moments, emotions, and/or events in your theme?
How can those be turned into a new rule?
8
Classic Character Makeovers (Drawing)
(Developed by the Museum of the Moving Image)
AGE
Elementary/Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Give an existing classic video game character a makeover as your own new character.
Understand video game characters
SET-UP
Free drawing application: Tayusi Sketches

Laptops to play some classic games
Chart paper grid
Scratch paper
Drawing materials (crayons, markers, colored pencils)
WARM-UP
Warm-up (5 min)
Discuss some of the groups favorite game characters and what they like about them.
How can that inform the kind of characters learners want to create?
MAIN ACTIVITY
Introduce Character Design for Games Session (20 min)

Where do sprites come from? A game designer may have an idea for a character in
mind before they ever begin programming the game. Oftentimes, the design of the
character relates directly to the story and mechanics of the game. What games come
to mind?
Were going to be playing some classic games. During the time were playing the
game, keep in mind the design of the characters, story, and mechanics.
Randomly assign some classic games to play in small groups. (We selected Pac Man,
Frogger and Super Mario Brothers)
Break into large groups by game. Fill in a chart paper grid describing the mechanics,
the story, and the movable parts of the character for the game you played. This is a
good opportunity to review the different parts of a game.
Hang your grids and discuss as a larger group: What were the mechanics in the game
you played? Did the mechanics correspond to the way the character looked in any
way? What did you like/dislike about the character? Was there a story in your game? If
yes, what was it? If you were making your own version of this game, what would the
character look like?
Character Make-Over (20 min)
With your games mechanics (e.g. Our character just eats.) and/or story (e.g. Our
character is out to rescue a princess.) in mind, make-over the character from your
game. Dont be afraid to add design constraints, add a specific challenge inspired by
the grid discussion. (We decided to give them the option of using digital tools or arts
and crafts materials.)
Character Share (5 min)
As students complete their characters, copy and prepare them onto a laptop for
projection for share out. During the last five minutes, watch a slideshow of their
characters and ask students to give shout-outs to characters.
9
Its the Remix (Scratch)
(Developed by Mouse)
AGE
Elementary (see optional version)/Middle/High School
GOALS
Play and remix a simple arcade style game in Scratch to transform it into a new variation.
Practice modifying games
Increase Scratch expertise
SET-UP
1. 5-6 Laptops and power cords

2. Internet Access
3. Open a browser window to bit.ly/mouseghostblast
4. Turn off computer sound
5. bit.ly/pancaker (optional)
WARM-UP
Play Ghost Blast (5 min)

Facilitator guides students to Scratch game Ghost Blast
(http://bit.ly/mouseghostblast) and allocates five minutes to playing the game. If there
arent enough computers, instruct students to rotate playing rather than huddling up
on one computer.
Click See Inside to see the code behind the game
Facilitator shows students the different sprites in the lower left hand corner
Facilitator shows students the costume tab for each sprite and guides them to the
costume editor and to the button to select sprites from the sprite library.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Remix main character:

The facilitator guides students to the sprite called goodguy and directs students to
change the costume to either a new image from the scratch image library, a user created
image using the costume editor, or an image downloaded from a google image search.
Those who use a google image search will need to use the eraser tool to cut out any white
space or edges from their images.
Resize main character:
Test student games to see how the size of the new goodguy sprite measures up and
adjust the size of it accordingly. The facilitator can point out the grow and shrink
tools in Scratch.
Students repeat steps 1 and 2 for the two badguy sprites, creating new costumes and
playtesting the different new enemies.
Students remix the backdrop, countdown sprites, title sprite, play button and more until
the game is totally transformed.
Students can log in with their own Scratch account or create a new Scratch account to save
the game.
Pancaker (for younger students): For younger students who may be having trouble with
this game try remixing the pancake sprite and background for Pancaker (bit.ly/pancaker)
instead.
10
Games Based on Movies (Board Games)
(Developed by Museum of the Moving Image)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
1. Create original games inspired by your favorite movies, and challenge yourself to
transform classic movie plots into a fun, playable game of your own design!
2. Experimentation with the game design process via the constraint of adapting an existing
narrative.
3. Exploration of games inspired by movies and games created as a type of movie
merchandise.
SET-UP
Index cards w/movie title and plot description on one side

Markers
Pre-cut butcher paper (3636 or smaller)
Rulers
Pencils
Index cards
Scissors
Game pieces
Tape
Printed images of board games inspired by movies (taken from the MoMI collection for
this activity, but you can find your own too)
4-5 movies (i.e., Romeo and Juliet; Lion King; Mean Girls, depending on ages of attendees)
WARM-UP (10 min)
1. Show students images of board games based on movies

2. Ask students to identify things the games have in common (board games, trivia, etc.).
3. Ask students to think about challenges a game designer might encounter when turning a
movie plot or concept into a game?
4. Ask students to create groups of 3-4.
5. Each group will choose a card with a movie title (plot description included) that will be the
focus of their design challenge: design a board game inspired by the movie plot
6. Introduce students to available materials.
7. Introduce first step; Use the next 5 minutes to develop 1-2 concepts for your game. These
will be shared with the larger group. (Optional) larger group voting on concepts.
MAIN ACTIVITY
1. Game concept brainstorm & share-out (5 min):

Circulate and check in with groups.
Ask small groups to share out their ideas with the larger group.
Summarize each for the larger group
1. Optional: Facilitate voting. Ask 1-2 voters to share what informed their vote.
2. Game design (45 min):
Instruct small groups to get started.
Let groups know how much time they have until debrief.
11
PixelPress and iPads (PixelPress)
(Developed by Coderdojo NYC)
AGE
Elementary/Middle
GOAL(S)
Design a playable level in a platformer game.

Practice iterating on designs.
SET-UP
3-5 iPads with Pixel Press Floors Installed

Pencils with erasers
Straight Edge Rulers
Sketch Guide (http://projectpixelpress.com/floors-sketch-guide/)
Blank Sketch Sheets (http://projectpixelpress.com/floors-sketch-guide/)
WARM-UP
Introduction to PixelPress. (5 min)

When the students are seated they should be distributed a sketch guide / a blank sketch
sheet. Briefly explain to them what PixelPress is and pass around the iPads with PixelPress
installed to give them a good idea of the games they can create.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Design Your first level (20 min)

Tell them to draw and only draw one level of their game. This task should take about 20
minutes. Make sure they are drawing straight lines as the iPad will have a difficult time
reading the sketches if they dont.
The handouts are meant to be a comprehensive reference guide for students when drawing,
so that you dont have to worry as a facilitator about them remembering everything you tell
tell. Instead, you can focus on filtering around the room and helping individual students
as they dive right in.
As they are drawing look at their sketches and make sure things make sense. Is the terrain
drawn properly? Is the level impossible to beat? Is the level too boring and easy?
Make sure to remind students that the character is only 1 box high and can only jump at
most 6 boxes. Show them how to draw certain parts of the game, like the moving bricks.
Scan and playtest level (10 min)
Authors Note: Once they are done drawing the first level, they will come to you to
have their game scanned into the iPad. Scanning can sometimes be difficult to
achieve- we found it best to have facilitators handle the scanning at 3-4 stations when
kids were done drawing to avoid unnecessary frustration.
Show the the design editor so they can fix their app on the iPad. Now let them play
the game and have other people play the game.
Modify and improve (15 min)
This activity benefits from a quick design to playtest cycle, and can more than other
stations allow multiple iterations on designs. Encourage students to either continue
refining their first level, or create the next level based on what they learned.
12
Sonic Scavenger Hunt and Monster Mash-Up (Yellofier Electrified)
(Developed by SOH NUP EDU with DJ Spazecraft)
AGE
GOAL(S)
To collaborate in a music jam by researching the connections between science,

storytelling & sound. Students (like Scientists, Biologists, researchers, & archeologists) take
samples from sound making objects (as artifacts) & then sequence the collected sounds
in the iPad Yellofier app in small groups.
Solve riddles of sound by collaborating. Discovering sounds to record then Mash-Up &
Jam out a Frankenstein monster song together in a freestyle performance!
SET-UP
A portable music studio, equipped with percussion toys which includes specific tech &
applications. 4-6 iPads (or Android Tablets) with sound sampling & sequencing
applications using Yellofier Electrified (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yellofier-
electrified/id916258097?mt=8). The interface is set up with a recorder page, a 16 slot grid
as each 1 bar division leading to a step sequencing page, as well as an effects section that
beg to be explored since their buttons are cool colorful shapes that allow you to create visual
patterns with rhythmic looping results. The pages are clearly laid out, & the Yellofier
Electrified application is also cross platform. Werkbench
(https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/werkbench/id522262614?mt=8) can also be used to
illustrate a DJ style interface, as that app is setup as 2 decks (A & B) with slider that fade
each deck volume up or down (each deck also has up to 4 decks that can be chained
together to form longer patterns.
Small instruments/utensils: anything that can make recognisable sounds by pressing,
squeezing, swiping, hitting, tapping &/or hovering (such as DIY Pocket theremin
(http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-04/build-pocket-theremin-cheap) using Photo
Cell etc.)
Childrens audio books (the ones with the strip of images down the side that make sounds
when pressed), percussion toys such as: rainstick, egg shaker, animal shaker, bells, pieces of
metal that can be scraped or struck together, claves, sandpaper/wood to scrap, childrens
wood blocks, mbira finger piano, childrens musical toys (DJ, piano, computer, phone etc).
uthors Note: I also encourage the use of amplified personal sound making electronics
such as Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators
(https://www.teenageengineering.com/products/po), DIY photo-synths (see link
above), & Korg Little Bits (https://littlebits.cc/kits/synth-kit) modular synth kits. You
plug in the device of your choice into a small bluetooth speaker so you can record into
an iPad directly from the speaker to get a strong amplified signal.
A handout that lists the specific sound objects for teams to physically find & record into
the Yellofier app.
A handout that details the audio processes theyve experienced (sampling, sequencing,
effect processing etc) & where they can find the songs they made online to listen to &
share with their social networks, embed on websites etc.
Very cool Bob Moog Synthesis Terminology (http://moogfoundation.org/learning-
synthesis/synthesis-fundamentals/) Placards at the station table explaining scientific
process such as: Harmonics, Filters, Oscillators, ASDR (Attack, Sustain, Decay, Release)
etc.
WARM-UP (5 min)
Students are officially deemed Tone Scientists of Planet Earth (insert your geographic
area here) by SpazeCraft One, then work in teams to find/create sounds, sample &
sequence then create a mix collaboratively, a monster mash-up with the other teams.
Tone Scientist Groups will have to physically look & listen around the space to find ways
to make the type of sounds listed in their scavenger item check list
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_y9iN_9Xu4iQ3Zsd01LQmNoY0k/view?
usp=sharing). We will record/Play a live jam/mash up with all groups findings in the
Master Monster Mash MIX.
To make this competitive, points can be tallied for all sounds collected within the time
limit given, team with the most points wins & gets to be the 1st team to Master the mix
(they can tell other teams to lower their sound/samples in the 1st jam so that other sounds
are more prominent in the mix at different times & make decisions like that)
MAIN ACTIVITY
Overview of the application Yellofier functions. (10 min)

Recording samples page and interface layout: where the microphone is, etc. transport
functions for playback, stop, tempo (BPM), and page menu.
Edit page: Step sequencer, effects, 16 step grid, sample banks, audition sounds
Review list of Sonic Detritus to hunt for, and sampling begins. (30 min)
The Yellofier app has 2 banks with 8 sound triggers in each bank. Groups make up to
16 unique sounds that reflect the list of sounds to hunt for and reports back to the
Landing Padd for further instructions and to check list their sound collections.
Chain reaction. (20 min)
Groups plug in their iPads into a 5 way headphone splitter into a portable speaker
such as the Samson or smart board speakers (by using a Stereo RCA to 1/8th inch
cable (http://www.guitarcenter.com/Bespeco/SLYMPR180-6-Ft-35-mm-Right-
Angle-Stereo-to-2-RCA-Male-OFC-Y-Cable.gc)).
Facilitator sets off a chain reaction of sequences on each iPad one at a time by
triggering each play button ON the 1 beat, the facilitator then goes to the next iPad
and triggers in the next sequence, etc. until all iPads are done.
13
Modding Pong (Scratch)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Modify an existing arcade game.

Understand the X/Y axis
Modify Scratch scripts
SET-UP
Print game worksheet.

(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6WZ67Ny4yPcNExHNkRkZENPMTQ/view?
usp=sharing)
Laptops
Go to https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/10128515/
Extra resources that you can print out for reference:
Rules (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6WZ67Ny4yPcQzlNcEJLVkd1OTA/view?
usp=sharing)
Obstacles (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6WZ67Ny4yPccEVvcFhEOExEMjA/view?
usp=sharing)
Keeping Score
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6WZ67Ny4yPcQ1dtVGhtelhxRG8/view?usp=sharing)
Game Space
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6WZ67Ny4yPccE5UNGFWaDJQTms/view?
usp=sharing)
WARM-UP
Introduce Pong-inspired game (15 min)

Distribute game worksheet
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6WZ67Ny4yPcNExHNkRkZENPMTQ/view?
usp=sharing). Ask group to identify how their elements are at work in ping pong.
Goal/challenge
Components/space
Rules
Mechanics
MAIN ACTIVITY
Introduce Programming & Scratch Interface (10 min)

Discuss design of the game (10 min)
When developers create digital games, every element of the gamethe goal,
components, rules, mechanics, and spaceneed to be defined by the program. The
program is like a script that tells the computer what to do. In this case, all the rules of
Ping Pong had to be programming into a digital version of the game.
If we are writing a script for one of the paddles, what do we need to tell it to do? Open
up the script for one of the paddles, and explore Scratch interface:
Sprite (the component)
Script (how we write a sentence to tell the sprite what to do)
Stage (where the action takes place)
x/y axis (helpful to point out directions, and how these are used in the script)
Modification (20 min)
Play the game What are some of the problems or glitches you encounter? (crossing
sides, no boundaries, no score, boring graphics, no sound) How could you change
this game to make it more playable? More fun? More challenging?
Distribute Scratch cards. Each student will modify at least one element of the game
1. Space (make a more interesting)

2. Components (add obstacles and change difficulty by changing speed & movement of the
ball)
3. Rule (cannot cross to the other side).
4. Goal (add scorekeeping)** only introduce to more advanced groups
After they work through the steps on the Scratch card, they can create keep working
on modifications of their choice.
Circulate and help.
14
Modding Musical Chairs (Physical Game)
(Developed by Institute of Play)
AGE
GOAL(S)
Modify an existing game

Develop playtesting and feedback skills
SET-UP
Chairs
Constraint Cards (make them yourself, see description below for examples)
Playtesting feedback forms
WARM-UP
Review the Rules to Musical Chairs (5 min)

Review how Musical Chairs is played normally so everyone can get on the same page.
Assign teams and roles within each team (5 min)
Time keeper (to make sure the group stays on track in the given time constraint)
Facilitator (make sure every voice is heard!)
Feedback lead (to make sure the group has a plan for how to rollout their game and is
ready to do so)
Playtest provoker (constantly encourage team to playtest their ideas)
MAIN ACTIVITY
Brainstorming and prototyping (20 min)
Each group is given their constraint card (each aligned to a part of a game space,
mechanics, rules, goals, components, challenge) and given time to start
brainstorming.
Groups do NOT have to use it. It is just a place to start for inspiration. Sample
constraints:
Make it collaborative (change the rules)
No chairs (change the space)
Incorporate ball (change the components)
Incorporate handkerchiefs (change the components)
Everyone stays seated (change the mechanics)
Not everyone walks at the same time (change the rules)
Teams should start brainstorming immediately and should be playtesting within
their group or with facilitators after 5 minutes .
Facilitators should rotate to help groups.
Group Playtesting (25 min)
Model playtesting process with the big group.
Have the feedback lead ask for one glow, grow, question, idea
Distribute one playtest feedback form per team. This is how the feedback lead should
record feedback from playtesters.
15
BrickBreakers (Stop Motion Video)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Learn stop-motion movie-making skills.

Modify an existing arcade game
SET-UP
3-4 labtops for initial group play (can be done on one big screen as a group)
sticky notes
markers/colored pencils
paper
scissors
filming setup
Camera connected to computer with stop-motion software installed
Filming screen
WARM-UP
Introduction to Brickbreakers (10 min)

In small groups, students will play an online version of the arcade classic Super Breakout,
(http://www.bit.ly/SuperBreakOut) and then regroup for a quick discussion:
How could we describe this game to someone who has never played?
Does this remind you of other games youve played?
Why might this type of game be popular in an arcade setting?
MAIN ACTIVITY
Design Pieces for a new brickbreakers game (20 min)

In small groups or individually (depending on total number) students will design a
new component for the ball figure in a brick-breaker game using card stock,
markers, and scissors. Students should be prompted to think about how their version
will behave differently than the classic version. Some questions to consider if students
need more prompting: will the speed change? What happens when it touches a brick?
Does the direction change?
Group Animations (30 min)
Using post-its as the bricks, each small group/individual will have a turn to animate
their unique ball figure using stop-motion animation. Each small group/individual
will be challenged to animate a specific number of frames (at the discretion of the
facilitator, based on total number). The rest of the group should participate by offering
suggestions and feedback throughout the animation process.
Encourage students to take on different roles, and to switch those roles over time.
Roles can include videographer (person who takes the picture for each frame), director
(makes sure the picture is ready to be take, and calls out shoot), animators
(rearranges pieces between each frame).
Students can bring home their component/ball design as a takeaway, and final
animations can be made available to share.
Sample video from previous game jam: http://bit.ly/GameJamAnimation

PART IV
Climate Change Game Design Activities
The game jam activities in this section focus on climate change.
Climate Change was a theme in the 2016-17 G4C Student Challenge, with materials and
expertise provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Certified NOAA educators attended the Moveable Game Jam in 2016 to inspire students
research, and provide feedback on their game concepts. Here is the prompt for student game
making:
Scientists have been documenting clear signs of a warming planet: the highest amounts of
greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the highest global surface and sea surface temperatures on
record, extremes rain and snow amounts, and rising sea levels. Every city is experiencing
unique impacts of climate change.
Research how your city will be affected by climate change in the next 20-30 years, and make a
game that teaches citizens how to prepare for our climate future.
For more info on this theme, visit the student challenge page at
www.gamesforchange.org/studentchallenge/nyc/climate-change/.
16
Time Travel Climate Game (Twine)
(Developed by Mouse)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Students create a Twine game that puts them in the position of the Mayor of NYC in the
year 2060. Much of New York is under water and the player is presented with a time
machine to try and reduce or stop the effects of climate change by changing the past.
Students are introduced to twine and the template from which to start their game and
encouraged to find a challenge that the player will overcome.
SET-UP
Computers/Laptops
http://twinery.org/2/
WARM-UP
1. Introduce student to Twine, show them this template (http://bit.ly/2gkV3mw) to start.

(must be downloaded onto a desktop, chromebook or uploaded into Twine to view. (5
min)
2. Students begin by playing the story to learn the premise of the game. (5 min)
3. Discuss what was learned earlier in the day that could be used to help stop climate change.
(5 min)
MAIN ACTIVITY
Show students how to view the back end of the Twine game and how to make a link. (5
min)
Students edit the link and add another lose condition branch to the existing structure and
share their edits. (5 min)
Review the rules of time travel (cant touch anyone, cant cause physical harm) and
discuss possible directions the game could go. What can we do? (5 min)
Students rename their games. (2 min)
Students continue to edit the existing exposition and add in new nodes to create two
paths, one that leads to success and prevents climate change and one path that is unable to
stop it. (20 min)
Students save games and can share them via philome.la (http://philome.la/) or another
service. (8 min)
Some examples of previous student-produced GAMES: (https://drive.google.com/open?
id=0B9kunZCntE5HVmQ4OXR3dksyUFE)
17
Polar Dash (Scratch)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Explore how obstacles and power-ups function within games as a polar bear dashes to find
retreating ice floes.
Practice reading script to identify how the system of a particular game works.
Add personality and improve game quality by modifying the games script to include
your own obstacle or power-up
SET-UP
iPad
7 laptops, power cables, and adaptors
Polar Dash game on thumb drive
Sticky notes
Chart paper
Markers
WARM-UP (10 min)
1. Frame this stations activity: adding obstacles and/or power-ups to a game inspired by
retreating ice floes resulting in difficulties for polar bears due to climate change
What are some examples of obstacles in a game? Power-ups? What do they have in
common? How are they different?
Ask students to jot down on sticky notes an obstacle and a power-up for our polar
bear (These can be real or fictional.) then ask participants to share out and add to chart
paper or wall.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Introduction to challenge and source game (15 min)

Prepare participants to play source game, Polar Dash, in small groups with the game
at fullscreen while thinking about any existing power-ups or obstacles already built
into the game.
Does playing the game change the ideas you had about your obstacles or power-ups?
If so, how?
Assist students in transitioning from full screen to working screen with script open
The games current obstacles include dodging blocks of ice which damage the bears
health. Where should we look for the scripts that control the bears health damage and
interaction with the icebergs?
Once students have a sense of how the scripts are structured for the existing obstacle,
ask them to pick one obstacle or power-up theyd like to add and list the first step
theyll need to take to make it possible.
Invite students to share out.
Invite those with similar ideas to work together. Help them move around the space if
seating needs to be readjusted.
Preparation for modifications (5 min)
Once students are situated in their working groups (pairs ideal), ask them to write
down their first three steps to making their mod (finding images, etc.)
Game design (25 min)
Instruct small groups to get started.
Let groups know how much time they have until debrief.
18
Makey Making it Green (Makey Makey)
(Developed by Global Kids)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Students must use the Makey Makey circuit board to create a game that teaches its players
about the environmental cost of daily habits and consumer behaviors, and motivates its
players to collaborate in a real-world game space to lower their carbon footprint.
Students will apply an understanding of circuitry and conductivity, game design, and how
actions and products have a cost on the environment.
SET-UP
1 Computer per group of 2-4 students with internet access, and with the following Scratch
project pulled up: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/135500597/
1 Makey Makey Classic (https://shop.makeymakey.com/products/makey-makey-kit?
variant=219582674) kit per group linked to computer.
1 Game Design Worksheet per group: tinyurl.com/GlobalKidsMGJgamedesign
1 C02 Emissions Handout per group: http://tinyurl.com/c02emissionshandout
This workshop best follows a workshop on everyday green behaviors like
recycling. Facilitators should incorporate this additional content as well.
Conductive materials including any of the following: potatoes, apples, tin foil, paper clips,
batteries, metal wires, canned foods, and any foods listed on CO2 Emissions Handout.
Crafting materials including any of the following: tape, construction paper, scissors, glue,
popsicle sticks, sponges, legos.
WARM-UP (10 min)

Introduce students to Makey Makey circuitry and design.
Explain: Ask students to gather around a single computer. Ask who knows what a circuit
is? Elicit that a circuit is a circle or loop of energy. It must not have any holes in order for
the energy to travel all the way around.
Show students the Makey Makey circuit board with Earth, Click, Space, and up,
down, left, and right arrow plates. Explain that this Circuit Board is like an
external keyboard or a game controller (the old fashioned kind that needs a wire to connect
to the computer). In order for the player to use the controls, you as the game designer need to
create an circuit. The player pushed on the buttons by closing the circuit.
Explain that students job as game designers is to create the interaction that the player has
with the Makey Makey controller. You must create an open circuit (the circle is incomplete)
so that the player can close the circuit (close the circle) and push a button.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Have one student hold one end of an alligator clip that is attached to Earth. Explain that
Earth is like one end of the circle. The other end of the circle is going to be one of the
arrow plates and when this button is pushed, something will happen in the Scratch project
shown. Now we have two ends of the circle. In order for the circuit to be closed, they need
to touch one another! Ask the students to high five and see what happens in the scratch
game (make sure you have already clicked the green flag to start the project). (5 min)
Processing Questions- tech:
What is a circuit?
What is the beginning of the circuit? (key, such as the arrow)
Then end of the circuit? (Earth)
What was in between? (Conductive materials like humans!)
Processing Questions- design:
How did you have to interact or collaborate with one another?
Where was the game space? (Both IN the computer, and OUTSIDE in the
world.)
Elicit that the computer or Scratch game can be used to track or measure what we do
in an in-person game. You all are going to design a game where the players discover
how to be a part of the solution by interacting with real world materials. (2 min)
Show students what each plate on the circuit board will do and explain that this game
is designed to teach its player about behaviors that will either help or hurt the
environment. Their challenge as game designers is to connect the buttons resulting
in tree with items that represent helpful behaviors, and to connect the buttons
resulting in smog and trash with items that represent hurtful behaviors. Refer to the
diagrams on page 2 of the Game Design Worksheet.
(http://tinyurl.com/GlobalKidsMGJgamedesign) (5 min)
Show students a setup where Earth is attached to a tuna can, a tree button is connected
to a paper cut out of a recycling bin (attached with tin foil), and a trash button is
connected to a paper cut out of a trash can (attached with tin foil). Demonstrate the if
the player puts the tuna can (a recyclable material) into the trash, it is not a good
behavior for the climate and results in a trash can on the Scratch project, but if the
player places it in the recycling paper, this is a behavior that is good for the
environment and results in a tree in the Scratch project. (2 min)
Point out all the craft and conductive materials and explain which materials materials
are conductive meaning that the energy of the circuit can travel through them. Tell
students to use the reference materials and the worksheet to figure out how they want
the game player to interact with the materials to learn about what is good or bad for
the environment. Show them how to use the planning sheet provided to think about
which materials can represent which outcome in the Scratch game. Provide students
with the CO2 Emissions Handout (http://makeymakey.com/how-to/classic/), or other
reference materials and encourage them to consider everyday green behaviors and
materials. (30 min)
19
Snakes Are Spreading (HTML CSS Javascript)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Architect a game that will allow the student to learn how html/css/javascript can be
imported via scripts and then manipulated to work together to form a polished
game/product.
This is a variation of the popular snake game utilizing html/css/javascript. As the snake
goes around the game canvas, it will eat up the remaining food, growing larger and larger.
SET-UP
1. Computers/Laptops
2. Project assets: https://github.com/CoderDojoNYC/SnakesAreSpreading
(https://github.com/CoderDojoNYC/SnakesAreSpreading)
3. News article: https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01032016/venomous-snakes-climate-
change-northern-us-canada
WARM-UP (10 min)
Grab a sheet of paper and write instructions for a couple different elements that will make
up the core of the game.
Score what will each piece of food be worth? 1 point? 10 points?
Controls how will the user control their snake? Does left mean left? Up mean down?
Challenge the student to design a unique game experience for their user.
Design what will the game colors look like? (optional: explain what a color palette
is)
Having these things written down on a physical piece of paper is a great exercise making
the student and or team thats designing the game agree on some foundational blocks.
This plan can also be referenced and leaned upon should the student get stuck.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Give your game a name via an HTML element (2 min)

ex: (<h1>My Awesome Game Name</h1>)
Add a game surface (canvas) for your snake to spread (2 min)
ex:(<canvas id=the-game width=400 height=320 />)
Give your snake some styling. Locate the spot in the index.html file where the insert the
style sheet is and add in the following (2 min)
<link rel=stylesheet href=style.css type=text/css>
Below the div containing the canvas, draft the instructions on how to play your game (10
min)
Insert the script which controls your snake. Locate the spot in the index.html file where the
insert the javascript is and add in the following (2 min)
<script type=text/javascript src=game.js></script>
Add a instructions for the user on how to start the game. (5 min)
(Hint Line 23)
Keys (5 min)
Find the variable keys on line 165, this is what helps control your snake. Utilizing the
website http://keycode.info/ insert the key that will start your game in the start game array.
(ex: start_game: [13, 32])
Repeat the same concept in step 7, but for the arrays left, right, up, down. (7 min)
PART V
Local Stories and Immigrant Voices Game

Design Activities
20
Code Switch Conundrum (Scratch)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Drawing from stories told by the Associated Press, students will identify some of the
challenges faced by Syrians entering the US as asylum seekers, and will hack a game in
Scratch in order to improve the games impact and promote understanding.
Students explore the lived realities of immigration policy and public perception, as
experienced by a refugee youth Syria who has recently moved to New York City.
SET-UP
Set up laptops with internet access, logged in to a student account on scratch, with the
Journey of a Syrian Refugee (https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/142124761/) game page pulled
up
Ahmeds Story Handout
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1utd0BcjTkHoGxYVabBh_lxL3MzNbO9qbJa1AfZu
for each group
Hack It! Handout
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m6aSsuPSkw_nk_OUgyuF6WUOf6yIB7z9RsXEa
for each group
Syrian Refugee Experience Info Sheets
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TSBCFS_AQk3aEUDqApHFl0rIl5LxBJzhioipwgK
for each group
Student logins for Scratch
WARM-UP (10 min)
1. Ask students what they have heard of the Syrian people and the events taking place in their
homeland, or in their migration process. Elicit their ideas and then explain that there are
many people trying to seek new homes because of a war in Syria over leadership and social
control over the country. It has become dangerous to live there, so people are leaving their
homes and risking their lives to travel to new countries. Explain that once they settle, they
have new challenges awaiting them and have to work hard to cope.
2. Pass out the handouts of Ahmeds narrative and have students read each section allowed.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Introduction (5 min)
Have students gather around one computer. Explain that they will hack a game about
Ahmed- Journey of a Syrian Immigrant designed like Flappy Birds.
Ask if anybody can define playtest to try out a game and see what happens- and
have a student volunteer try the game.
After the playtest, have students identify the 5 elements of this game: (if this has been
covered earlier in the events warmup)
Goal: Avoid obstacles that represent stressors in an immigration story. Stressors
are shown on six different game levels (immigration, housing, transportation,
education, discrimination, and mental/physical health).
Mechanics: Click space to move up and down to navigate obstacles
Components: scenery, obstacles, avatar, coping ability points
Space: NYC streets, apartment buildings, outside & inside a school
Rules: if your avatar hits the obstacle, then the players loses Coping Ability
points (i.e., health). When Coping Ability reaches zero, the game cuts to a game
over screen with the player saying I need to manage my stress better.
Conversely, when all levels are passed, the game cuts to a win screen, with the
player sprite thanking the player for helping him acclimate to his new life in
New York.
Debrief (5 min)
Ask students if they saw anything in the game from Ahmeds story?
Ask students what types of obstacles there where, and do they think these relate
to real life stressors that might impact immigrants? Do any of these remind you
of stressors in your life (like a test, homework, being hungry, etc)? Explain that
our ability to cope or handle stressful events or obstacles can be different for
different people; and when we have a lot of stressors all at once, its even harder!
Ask them to look at the Visuals side of the Ahmed hand out, and ask they
could imagine adding any of those images or symbols into the game to make
the game more interesting.
Hacking Intro (5 min)
After the playtest, explain that their task is to (a) use the narrative provided to
them and (b) hack the game to make sure it is meaningful, challenging, and fun,
so that people will actually play it and learn about these important stories. Note
to students that the images in the Narrative Handout may reflect obstacles in the
game!
Demonstrate that students can change the game in a few ways. Show them the
stage, sprites, costumes and scripts areas. Tell them they can hack the
IMAGES they see for the obstacles by filling in a blank costume or they can
hack the SPEED or FREQUENCY of the obstacles. Show them where the
drawing tools are and where the scripts can be found.
Pass out the Hack It! Handout and tell student to choose a hack option to try out,
depending on their level of familiarity with Scratch. The given options include:
Add a new Obstacle using the drawing tool.
Change the velocity or frequency of obstacles.
Change the size of obstacles.
Create a power up that, when touched, changes any of the above.
Remind them that it is important to click the green flag to playtest their hack.
Student Hack Session (25 min)
Students click the Remix button and use the Hack It! Handout to hack the
game.
21
ThemeWeavers (Card Game)
(Developed by Institute of Play)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
1. An exploration of theme and core mechanics, through the lens of immigrant stories.
2. Participants explore the relationship between mechanics, content and theme by moddinthe
game StoryWeavers.
3. Participants will mod the game in two ways, first by modding the mechanics of the game,
then by modding the content in an effort to align the game with the theme of immigrant
voices.
SET-UP
Print and Cut:

StoryWeaver Cards Link (http://www.instituteofplay.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/12/Storyweavers-2016.pdf) (pg 2-11 double sided)
Blank StoryWeaver Cards Link (http://www.instituteofplay.org/wp-
content/uploads/2016/12/Storyweavers-2016.pdf) (pg. 23 & 26 double sided)
Immigration Resources / Supports Forthcoming
Prototyping materials: paperclips, pens, etc
Writing Utensils
WARM-UP (10 min)
1. Review the rules of StoryWeavers, here: Link. (http://www.instituteofplay.org/wp-

content/uploads/2016/12/Storyweavers-2016.pdf) Setup StoryWeavers at a table, so its
ready to go for Step 1!
2. Some Key Terms:
Core Mechanics: This is a game design term that can be thought of as the central
verb of a game. For example the core mechanics of Tic Tac Toe might include:
Placing Xs (or Os) and taking turns. While the core mechanic of a footrace is
running.
Mod: Modification; in the game design world, this word stands in for games which
are derived from a pre-existing game. Usually created by a player or user of the game
it is derived from. For example: the game Freeze Tag is a mod of Tag, and the game
Sardines is a mod of Hide and Seek. More Here
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mod_(video_gaming).
3. Design theme prompt: NYC is home to thousands of immigrants, all of whom, like
people in the past, have stories to share. Maybe your neighbors or family members arrived
in the United States. Think about what the experience as an immigrant must have been
like now or in any period in history. Was it hard to find your way around the city streets?
What was it like attending school or making friends? This theme invites you to create a
game about the immigrant experiences in your city.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Fishbowling StoryWeavers (3 min)

Explain that at this station, teams will be modding a game called Invite 3 or 4
volunteers to help you demonstrate the game. Play 2 rounds with your volunteers at a
table, while the rest of the group watches. Then ask the students questions about the
rules, goals and core mechanics of StoryWeavers such as When did we finish each
round?, Who was, or was there a winner? Did we have a choice between the cards we
played? etc.
Modding StoryWeavers (12 min)
Break the group up into teams of 2-3, and tell them that they have 10 minutes to
modify the game of StoryWeavers by adding rules, changing the core mechanics, or
changing the goal of the game.
If any teams are off to a slow start, you may kickstart their progress by asking
what they saw in the demonstration of the game that theyd like to change,
whether theyd want to add a win condition, or whether theyd like to change the
way that players get or play cards, or whether theyd like to add rules about what
kinds of cards can be played when.
Encourage teams to prototype or playtest their game as soon as possible! If a
group is spending all their time talking, ask to join their group for a playtest.
When its getting close to the 10 minute mark, encourage the teams to start
wrapping up by asking them to name their mod.
Playtest (5 min)
Once 10 minutes are up instruct teams to playtest the games theyve created.
If youve noticed that theyve been playtesting their game throughout their
prototyping, then pair teams up to playtest each others versions of
StoryWeavers: (but keep a close watch on the time this runs the risk of taking
longer than 5 minutes!) Ask a volunteer from each team to stay with their mod
and facilitate it. Then pair playtesters with facilitators.
Modding the Content to Align with a Theme (15 min)
Once the playtests are over, ask each team one thing that they observed
during their playtest. Then, once each team has shared, ask the group what
they think the Theme of StoryWeavers is. Then ask what they think the
Content of storyweavers is. Encourage the group to identify the cards as
the content of the game. Then explain that what youve just done was to
modify the mechanics of StoryWeavers and that now were going to modify
the content to align to a theme.
Supply teams with blank StoryWeavers cards, writing utensils, and a theme
challenge card. Ask volunteers to read the design theme aloud. Then, explain
that game designers are often challenged to design games that align with a
theme, or tell a particular story. Tell the group that they have 10 minutes to
modify their mod by changing only the content, meaning the cards, of
StoryWeavers to align with the that theme. Explain that they can use the
blank StoryWeaver cards to do this.
Again, when its getting close to the 10 minute mark, encourage teams to
wrap it up by re-naming their mods.
The structure of this activity to first introduce participants to the original
game then layering in the thematic content worked very well. They enjoyed
creating long narratives out of the original cards and were excited to create
their own afterwards.
Care should be taken to ensure that participants have fun but dont go too far
off the rails and to maintain a sensitive approach to the serious themes.
Playtest (10 min)
When the 10 minutes are up, instruct each team to playtest their games.
Again, if theyve been playtesting throughout, pair them up so they can
playtest with each other. Ask a volunteer from each team to stay with their
mod and facilitate it. Then pair playtesters with facilitators.
When each team has gotten through at least 1 round, draw the playtest to a
close. Ask each team for one thing they observed during their playtest. Then
ask the whole group the following questions:
Our goal was to create games that align to this theme: Local Stories
and Immigrant Voices. Our approach was to first modify the game
mechanics, then mod the content. As game designers, how successful
was this approach?
Would it have been more successful if we had modded this game in the
opposite order, first by changing the content, then by changing the
mechanics? Why or why not?
Moving forward, how would you iterate your game to align more
strongly to the theme of Local Stories and Immigrant Voices?
Wrap-up (5 min)
Thank everyone for their time, and ask for help cleaning up the
prototyping stations.
22
Lets Grow a Game (Gamestar Mechanic)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Create early stage concepts for game theme and character

Learn to design game levels on GameStar Mechanic
Incorporate social justice issues into your game design
SET-UP
1. Design guide printout (works best on 1117 sheet of paper)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_HDxAjial0QVdjWVluZFFIbWM/edit?usp=sharing
2. Sticker labels https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_HDxAjial0bmRzMkRkV1JVc28/edit?
usp=sharing
3. Colored pencils
4. Old magazines, scissors, glue
5. Computers preloaded with GameStar Mechanic premium accounts
WARM-UP
1. Introduction to social justice issues (1-2 min)
MAIN ACTIVITY
Design Pieces for a new brickbreakers game (15 min)

The design of the printouts is relatively intuitive and needs little introduction for
students to jump right in.
Station participants receive a design guide printout.
They also receive a page of sticker labels
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_HDxAjial0bmRzMkRkV1JVc28/edit?
usp=sharing) with text of different colors that provide several options for characters
(postman, skateboarder, basketball player, mermaid, etc), issues (clean water, access to
food, equal treatment, etc), places (Brooklyn, my home, the ocean, etc) and
mechanics (jumping, distributing, researching, collecting). Participants place the
stickers in the corresponding spots of the sentence starter to come up with a core
game idea, as they would fill out a madlib. If theyd like, they can come up with their
own ideas instead of using the stickers.
If there is time in this section of the activity, students can flip over the sheet and fill out
some more specifics about their game.
Game theme collage (15-20 min)
Participants will receive several magazines, glue sticks, scissors, and markers to create
a collage image of the premise of the game. Prompts for participants who are stuck:
What would your character look like?
What images can you use to demonstrate what your character does in the game?
What images can you use to show where the game takes place and what issue
your character fights for?
GameStar Mechanic level design (15-20 min)
Facilitators ask students: Do you want to bring your game to life? They inform
participants that they can use Gamestar Mechanic to grow their game.
Participants will receive laptops. Laptops should be logged in to Premium
accounts of the website Gamestar Mechanic. Participants should bring their
Grow a Game document with them to the computer.
Facilitators direct students to the game and level settings, where students can use
their grow a game document to fill in the game/level intro and win messages
before they start designing. These should correspond to the concept for the game
they had brainstormed in the prior section.
Facilitators should also show students the basics of Gamestar:
How to place blocks, avatars, and enemies.
How to make changes to enemy movement and traits.
How to change the background of the game.
Once participants know how to do these things, they may be tapped by the
facilitators to explain these ideas to other participants.
Facilitators may choose to provide students with pre-created environments on
Gamestar, or provide blank workshop spaces, depending on time, age etc.
This sign
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_HDxAjial0X0lyNmtTeTNRSUk/view?
usp=sharing) (or one like it) will also be posted to help students match the
mechanics they listed on their design sheets to components that may execute
these mechanics in gamestar
Its easy for kids to get lost in the world of GameStar. Be sure that you connect
kids designing in GameStar to their original game concept they wrote down
earlier. Prompting questions for facilitators:
How will you design the space so it matches the core idea you had?
Which avatar would be best to represent your characters?
What do the enemies represent in your game?
23
An Immigration Breakout (Escape Room Game)
(Developed by Matthew Farber & Kevin Miklasz)
AGE
Middle/High School/Adult
GOAL(S)
Students design their own breakout set, with a distinct immigrant voices theme embed
into their puzzle choices.
SET-UP
1. Two BreakoutEDU kits (http://www.breakoutedu.com)

One set up as described in warmup, the other ready for students to redesign the
elements in their own game.
2. A few computers, for research
3. Paper
4. Markers
5. Pens
6. Chart paper
WARM-UP
Kids play a sample, simplified breakout game. (10 min)

This requires a breakout set. It uses the directional lock and sets the direction equal to card
suits, using the included stickers. It also requires the key lock, the alphalock and the 3 digit
number-locked black box.
Printouts needed are here
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jUt_9cQcYTicPp50Z_cT1RWT0S-
wSITstVFh8S6hemM/edit). The black box should hold both printouts on the first
page (the URL, and the word->emoji grid), the key to the key lock, and a set of
playing cards of assorted suits, with cards Ace-5. The number lock on the black case
should be set to 111.
The two printouts on the second page should be included in a folder that players
can open and see immediately. The alpha lock, key lock, and directional lock should all
be attached to the Breakout box. The alpha lock should be set to the word LIONS.
The directional lock should be set to whatever suits correspond to the numerical
ordering of the cards included in the black box (i.e. if the cards are Ace of Spades, Two
of Spades, 3 of Hearts, 4 of Diamonds, and 5 of spades, the directional lock combo
should be Spades-Spades-Hearts-Diamonds-Spades).
This diagram shows how the puzzles connect together, and can be used as reference
sheet to give hints as needed.
Story: You are a spy team trying to track down a secret agent. You run into the agents ho
room when the agent leaves to check out, and find a bunch of the agents personal items
still in the room, along with the agents top secret briefcase, which you are tasked with
getting inside. Previous intelligence has found the agent has been careless with his
passwords and locks, often leaving obvious clues to them in his travel records. You pretty
sure the agent will be back in the room in 10 minutes, so you have that long to find a way
to get into his briefcase, and get out of the room.
After reading the story to participants, set the clock to 10 min, and let them get to work
getting inside the box. Remind them that they are working together, and sharing info and
collaboration is key. Also, there are multiple puzzles to solve, so make sure to split your
effort, and work together on sharing info.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Recap the game and its elements and mechanics (5 min)

Discuss how the basic mechanic is solving puzzles. The components to the game are
mainly pieces of information, which create clues or riddles that lead you to break
some kind of lock and solve the puzzle.
Think of each puzzle as having this structure: input-lock-output. You have
information that you need to solve the puzzle, thats the puzzles input. Theres the
lock, or the thing preventing you from getting more information. And then once the
lock is broken, you get to the output, which is usually more clues. Typically, the
output to one lock is also the input to a different lock.
It can be useful to show the diagram above to the initial breakout game. Indicate that
you want students to be able to construct a new layout for their breakout game. When
Brainstorming puzzles, it can also be helpful to use a sheet with this format, and to fill
in the columns for each section: INPUT | LOCK | OUTPUT
Brainstorm ideas and concepts that are theme aligned, write them on chart paper (5 min)
Authors Note: As the facilitator, this will involve a lot of in the moment direction of
brainstorming and action. This is the point to impart a real sense of student agency,
let them really take control of the direction of the puzzles and theme, but guide them
lightly to stay on topic.
After the brainstorm, the facilitator can pick 2-3 concepts that they decide that they
want to focus on, and that they think might have the most potential for a good
breakout set.
Students choose 2-3 ideas to focus on. Students design puzzles that fit with that theme (35
min)
Main role of facilitators in this section is to guide kids in individual puzzles, and to
also help kids think about how the individual puzzles might fit together in the bigger
puzzle. The facilitator might want to direct student work by starting to draw out how
the student puzzles fit together in a diagram, and directing students to develop puzzles
that fill in holes in that diagram. In this way, the facilitator almost works as the lead
game master.
Authors Note: It was very helpful to have the facilitator act as lead game designer, and
find ways to connect puzzles together, while leaving students the task of designing
individual puzzles. Towards the end of the activity, two participants were asked to start
writing the story for the narrative while the other participants filled in the remaining
puzzles, and that was directed by the facilitator. During the group playtesting, one of
these participants, then read the story to the playtesters.
Authors Note: Students mostly spent the full 2 hours working on one collaborative
escape room game. This worked well, and it would be recommended to have new
students in the second design time add puzzles and ideas to whatever the first group
did, rather than start a wholly new game.
24
Map Building (HTML CSS)
AGE
Middle/High School
GOAL(S)
Design a map of the current room youre in utilizing a given base style guide of elements
and/or designing your own HTML/CSS elements. The student at a minimum should have
both a starting and ending point (think treasure map!)
Have the students become comfortable using an open source library in their code. The
amazing font-awesome library is a great piece of software with excellent documentation.
Activity prompt: Immigrants by definition are new to the area they are now living in. At
the end of the session, well have your fellow students use the map you built (acting as
immigrants to the room) to navigate the room to a specific place.
SET-UP
Computers/Laptops
Mozilla Thimble
Load the Font Awesome Icon Website (http://fontawesome.io/icons/) for Reference in
another tab
Use the index.html page provided in https://github.com/CoderDojoNYC/RoomMap
WARM-UP (10 min)
Review the PB-N-J (http://sites.ssis-suzhou.net/hourofcode/files/2015/12/pb-and-j-

programming.pdf) example with the students demonstrating how quickly an instructional
point can be missed and the simple sandwich design can go awry.
Bonus points if you actually have the physical elements to make a PB-N-Jit really
helps driving home the point.
Using a physical sheet of paper have the student draw a map of the room they will be
navigating. Challenge the student to be as detailed and exact as possible mapping out the
room. Think about obstacles, both static and variable. How will they account for objects
that have varied state in their map? Advanced students could design a scale for this exercise
to ensure each movement their fellow student is taking to get to the end target is precisely
calculated.
MAIN ACTIVITY
Walk the Room (5 min)

Have the students, with map and writing utensil in hand, walk their own map, step
for step (taking notes as they go, things they would change, areas that might need
more detailOR items that could potentially be superfluous).
First Line of Code (10 min)
Have the student open Mozilla Thimble and navigate to the index.html file. Utilizing
either the left/right/up/down arrows provided OR a selected icon in the font-awesome
library, have the student insert their first directional icon using an icon-tag. <i
class=fa fa-arrow-right fa-2x></i>
If the Mozilla Thimble live refresh feature is enabled the icon should now be visible on
the webpage output.
If this was the desired direction have the student continue until the next direction
switch is reached.
Going in a specific direction can @ times be a lot of copy/pasting (something
that performing efficiently is important in computer programming). If this is
foreign to the student, explain the magic of cut, copy, paste.
Adjust the size of icon by utilizing the font-awesome scaling classes. View the
Larger Icons: http://fontawesome.io/examples/
For simplification, this exercise was built for inline css. Should the student
become frustrated with the duplication of inline css. Feel free to add a css block in
the head like so.
Main Hacking (20 min) Give the student some space to design the map as their vision
feels fit. Questions to ask during this time
Is pure CSS the solution? Where Font Awesome isnt providing what the student is
looking for. Challenge them to use a pure css solution to create a (square
representing a table, circle representing a plant).
What can you do to avoid duplication in your code? Introduce the DRY principle to
the student if they are finding the exercise too easy or the duplication is bothering
them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dont_repeat_yourself.
Has the student provided a scale? One icon = One Step? How are they going to
present that? A table? Bulleted list below the map?
Finish (15 min)
Pair all the students/groups with another student/groups.
Have them exchange laptops. (If Desktop computers, see if printing is available. If not,
maybe a screenshot on a phone so the student can walk the map)
Have the other student read the map and ask any questions up front before beginning
on their journey through the room.
Have the student utilize the map (as an immigrant of the classroom)walking only
based on the instructions given. At the end have the student provide both a written
and verbal feedback report on how the map and its instructions could be improved.
About the Editors
Sara Cornish
Sara is the Senior Director of Programs and Strategy at Games for Change (G4C), the leading
organization advocating games for social impact and learning, where she develops new
partnership-driven projects and leads on G4Cs youth and learning programs. In 2015, Sara
developed and launched the first G4C Student Challenge with the NYC Department of
Education, which has since expanded to three other cities. She curated the Games for Learning
Summit in 2016, and helped establish the first Games for Learning Working Group. Prior to
G4C worked at United Nations Global Pulse and FCB Health. She has run games at the annual
Come Out & Play festival and plays ultimate frisbee. Sara has a MFA in Design for Social
Innovation from the School of Visual Arts and a BA from Vassar College in Urban Studies.
Matthew Farber
Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology in the Technology,

Innovation, and Pedagogy program at the University of Northern Colorado. He is an Edutopia
blogger, a Certified BrainPOP Educator, and he is in the iCivics Educator Network. Look for
his book, Gamify Your Classroom: A Field Guide to Game-Based Learning Revised Edition
(Peter Lang, 2017), and his second book, Game-Based Learning in Action: How an Expert
Affinity Group Teaches with Games (Peter Lang, in preparation). To learn more, please visit
matthewfarber.com.
Alex Fleming
Alex Flemings first game he made was a variation on space invaders he built on his TI-86 in
school. Alex is a game design educator and currently is a Learning Design Coordinator at
Mouse in New York City. In 2014 he updated Mouses Serious Game Design course which
now is the official curriculum of the 2017 Games for Change Student Challenge. Alex has
served as a judge for the National STEM Video Game Challenge and organized youth game
jams around New York City and Chicago as one of the founding members of the Movable
Game Jam Initiative. He has a B.A. in Sociology and Acting from Brandeis University. To
learn more about Mouse visit www.mouse.org.
Kevin Miklasz
Kevin Miklasz, Ph.D., entered education as a trained scientist- he has a PhD in Biology from
Stanford University. Both during and after his graduate studies, he has spent his time gaining a
smattering of diverse experiences in education: designing science curriculum, teaching after-
school science programs, designing science games, running a cooking as science blog,
designing online learning platforms, running professional development for teachers and
professional engineers, and analyzing educational assessment data. Kevin is currently the
Director of Data and Assessment at BrainPOP where he is designing and analyzing new,
playful and meaningful assessments on BrainPOPs website. Kevin is also one of the founding
members of the Moveable Game Jam Initiative, and has participated in all of the 16 Moveable
Game Jams run in NYC to date. To learn more about Kevin, please visit
kmiklasz.blogspot.com.
Acknowledgements
Many people contributed to this collection of game jam curricula over the last three years. This
list of acknowledgements is at best a brief one.
We first have to thank The Hive Digital Learning Fund in the The New York Community
Trust. We are in general deeply indebted to the Hive Learning Network NYC for spawning the
initial format for these events, and the collaborative spirit that made a multi-organizational
effort like this possible. In 2016, Games for Change received a grant to continue the Moveable
Game Jams for a second year and integrate the initiative into the 2nd annual G4C Student
Challenge, a student game design program that invites middle and high school students to
create digital games about issues impacting their communities.
We also want to thank all the students and parents that brought their energy, enthusiasm, and
valuable weekend time to participate in these events. Most of the Moveable Game Jams were
centered in New York City, but they also took place in Chicago, Albany, Los Angeles and San
Francisco.
We also need to thank the numerous organizations that contributed to the Moveable Game Jam
Initiative in 2016, whether by helping run events, write curriculum, run stations, or refine the
curriculum guide. Whether or not your names appear next to curriculum here, all of your efforts
were instrumental at supporting to where we got today. Wed like to thank all the organizations
that participated this most recent iteration of the Moveable Game Jams this past year by
running stations or hosting events: Mouse, Museum of the Moving Image, Global Kids,
CoderDojo NYC, SpazeCraft, Institute of Play, Brooklyn Community College Partnership,
BrainPOP and the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library. We also want to
thank the theme partners for this past years activities: Current by General Electric for the
Future Communities theme, NOAA for the Climate Change theme, and National Endowment
for the Humanities for the Immigrant Stories and Local Stories and Immigrant Voices theme.
Wed also like to thank all of the organizations that helped pave the way for the current iteration
of the Moveable Game Jams by running events and contributing curriculum in 2014-2015,
listed in the order in which they joined: Iridescent, Institute of Play, MOUSE, Global Kids,
Museum of the Moving Image, Eyebeam, Exposure Camp, Brooklyn Community College
Partnership, Brantford Games Network, CoderDojo NYC, Albany Public Library, SpazeCraft,
Black Girls Code, Groundswell, Blue1647, Important Little Games, Hyde Park Art Center, Plug
In Studio, CodeCreate, and Game Changer Chicago.
Wed also like to call out a few people who were particularly instrumental in shaping this
resource into what it is today. Leah Gilliam, who originally suggested the game jam format,
and for being a continual support and advocate for the event and curriculum guide throughout
the first two years. Don Miller, who helped make the first event (and many others after it) a huge
success. Rafi Santo and Dixie Ching offered valuable insight on the structure and execution of
the game jams throughout the process. Juan Rubio and Brendon Trombley for helping bring
the Moveable Game Jam model to other educators by running workshops with the editors at
both the Digital Media and Learning Conference and the Games Learning and Society
conference.
About the ETC Press
ETC Press is a publishing imprint with a twist. We publish books, but were also interested in
the participatory future of content creation across multiple media. We are an academic, open
source, multimedia, publishing imprint affiliated with the Entertainment Technology Center
(ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and in partnership with Lulu.com. ETC Press
has an affiliation with the Institute for the Future of the Book and MediaCommons, sharing in
the exploration of the evolution of discourse. ETC Press also has an agreement with the
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) to place ETC Press publications in the ACM
Digital Library, and another with Feedbooks to place ETC Press texts in their e-reading
platform. Also, ETC Press publications will be in Booktrope and in the ThoughtMesh.
ETC Press publications will focus on issues revolving around entertainment technologies as
they are applied across a variety of fields. We are looking to develop a range of texts and media
that are innovative and insightful. We are interested in creating projects with Sophie and with
In Media Res, and we will accept submissions and publish work in a variety of media (textual,
electronic, digital, etc.), and we work with The Game Crafter to produce tabletop games.
Authors publishing with ETC Press retain ownership of their intellectual property. ETC Press
publishes a version of the text with author permission and ETC Press publications will be
released under one of two Creative Commons licenses:
Attribution-NoDerivativeWorks-NonCommercial: This license allows for published

works to remain intact, but versions can be created.
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: This license allows for authors to retain
editorial control of their creations while also encouraging readers to collaboratively rewrite
content.
Every text is available for free download, and we price our titles as inexpensively as possible,
because we want people to have access to them. Were most interested in the sharing and
spreading of ideas.
This is definitely an experiment in the notion of publishing, and we invite people to

participate. We are exploring what it means to publish across multiple media and multiple
versions. We believe this is the future of publication, bridging virtual and physical media with
fluid versions of publications as well as enabling the creative blurring of what constitutes
reading and writing.

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What are the main sections and topics covered in the guide?

What are the main sections and topics covered in the guide?

What activities are included for running a game jam?

What activities are included for running a game jam?

The Game Jam Guide

Sara Cornish, Matthew Farber, Alex Fleming, Kevin Miklasz

Carnegie Mellon University: ETC Press

TEXT: The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Cover Illustration by SpazeCraft One

1. The Games for Change Student Challenge

PART II. HOW TO RUN A GAME JAM

4. General Game Jam Format

PART III. UNIVERSAL GAME JAM ACTIVITIES

7. Remixing Fluxx (Card Game)

PART IV. CLIMATE CHANGE GAME DESIGN ACTIVITIES

16. Time Travel Climate Game (Twine)

PART V. LOCAL STORIES AND IMMIGRANT VOICES GAME

20. Code Switch Conundrum (Scratch)

The Games for Change Student Challenge

The Moveable Game Jam event has three main components:

Moveable Game Jams

A Brief History of Game Jams

How to Run a Game Jam

General Game Jam Format

1. Intro icebreaker (30 min)

SPACE: Where the game takes place.

Three Introductory Activities

(Originally developed by Institute of Play)

Printed and cut out blank cards

Introduce the 5 parts of a game. (10 min)

YOU ARE THE GAME

Introduce the 5 parts of a game. (10 min)

HACK TIC TAC TOE

(Originally developed by Global Kids)

Pens, pencils, or colored pencils

Introduce the 5 parts of a game. (10 min)

Tips and Tricks for Running a Successful Moveable Game Jam

Universal Game Jam Activities

Remixing Fluxx (Card Game)

Printed blank card sheets

MAIN ACTIVITY (30 min)

Classic Character Makeovers (Drawing)

(Developed by the Museum of the Moving Image)

Free drawing application: Tayusi Sketches

Introduce Character Design for Games Session (20 min)

Its the Remix (Scratch)

Elementary (see optional version)/Middle/High School

1. 5-6 Laptops and power cords

Play Ghost Blast (5 min)

Remix main character:

Games Based on Movies (Board Games)

Design Process Focused Activities

(Developed by Museum of the Moving Image)

Index cards w/movie title and plot description on one side

WARM-UP (10 min)

1. Show students images of board games based on movies

1. Game concept brainstorm & share-out (5 min):

PixelPress and iPads (PixelPress)

Design Process Focused Activities

(Developed by Coderdojo NYC)