How are thematic and mathematical elements used in game design?
Thematics are a major part used in games, because if there aren’t thematics in games then there isn’t a game. Because without a theme then there is nothing for a game to be about just a blank board with a die. Mathematical elements are also a major part in games, whether it’s rolling a die, drawing cards, or landing on a space probability is involved. For example when you roll a die you have 1/6 chance of rolling a 4 on a 6 sided die which is math or if you have to pick up 2 cards and you already have 5 in your hand you have 7 which is again, math.
Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence
I used just over 10 science concepts with supporting evidence and our rules and game pieces explained them well connecting them to the science concepts. Our game pieces visually represented the science concepts we chose, for example name our game spaces with science names such as: slab pull, hot spot, earthquake, volcano, tsunami, fault lines, and a chance card spaces which have more science concepts on them.
Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest
During this project I used all of my class time efficiently by making game board pieces, writing our rules, or doing other assigned work. I also used my class time to build knowledge on science and math concepts.
Develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through play, inquiry, and problem solving
Our game uses probability and says what chance you have to draw any card, land on any space, and rolling any number on a 6 sided die. I also put in 5 mutually exclusive probabilities for 5 different scenarios in our game.
⬇️Our game rules and board below⬇️
1. Die roll
2. Game spaces
3. Chance cards
4. Lives
5. Playing you’re turn
6. Winning the game
7. Game pieces
8. Probability
1. Die roll
• You have 1 6 sided die and you roll it and whatever number is on there is how many spaces forward you move
• You may also roll a die for a turn (chance card, or space)
• You have to roll a die in order to decide who goes first, whoever rolls the highest number goes first, go clockwise from there
2. Game spaces
• Chances- when you land on a chance spot you draw from the chance card pile, follow the instructions of the chance card
• Volcanoes- you land on a spot with a volcano on it, and you discover magma flowing through the mantle go back to the start and lose a life place a volcano token on the volcano space you landed on.
• Tsunamis- you land on a tsunami spaces and you discover a converging plate boundary caused it, you have to go back 4 spaces and do what the next space says
• Earthquakes- you land on an earthquake space and you discover a convergent plate boundary, skip a turn
• Hot spots- you land on a hot spot revealing a hot spot volcano, move forward 2 spaces
• Fault lines- you land on a fault lines spot, roll a die trying to figure out what fault it is #1,2 are a reverse fault, #3,4 are a normal fault, #5,6 are a strike-slip fault whatever number you roll is also the amount of spaces you go forward
• Slab pull- you land on a slab pull space, and roll a die to see how many turns you skip
• Layers of earth- you land on a layers of earth spot, you made a fantastic scientific discovery about the layers of the earth and the the temperature of the core, gain a life
• Continental drift- you land on a continental drift space, have reached the end of the world the continent you’re on will float you to safety, you win the game
• Continental – continental plates- you land on a continental- continental plates space, 2 continental- continental plates collided creating a mountain go back to the start
• Lose a life- you land on a lose a life space, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed you, lose a life
• Gain a life- you land on a gain a life space, you save someone from a falling tree in an 7.0 earthquake, gain a life
3. Chance cards
• Puddle of death or lava- You stepped in a puddle of lava, you lose a life
• Core of the earth- You fell into the core of the earth, roll a die to determine how many lives you lose
• Convection currents- You get sucked into the earth by a convection current switch spots with someone of your choice
• Transform faults- a transform fault appears and starts moving, switch spots with the person closest to you
• Smart- You tested a theory about tectonic plates and were correct, gain a life
• Lawsuit- You copyrighted a theory about oceanic plates and someone else used it, you sue them and win the settlement, roll a die to see how many lives you gain
• When you draw a card, after you’ve done what the cards says, put the card into the discard pile
• Shuffle the cards before the game starts
4. Lives
• Every player starts with 3 lives
• You can gain and lose life through chance cards and landing on spaces
• If you lose all of your lives you are out of the game and if only 2 people are playing the other person wins
5. Playing your turn
• You starts your turn by rolling a die
• Next you move as many spaces as the number is on the die
• If something is on that spaces you’re on follow the directions of that spaces, if not your turn is over
6. Winning the game
In order to win the game you have to either get to the end of the map or if you’re playing with 2 players and the other player loses all of their lives, you win
7. Game pieces
• 1 die
• 5 characters
• 36 chance cards
• 6 puddle of death cards or lava-You stepped in a puddle of lava, you lose a life
• 6 core of earth cards-You fell into the core of the earth, roll a die to determine how many lives you lose
• 6 Convection currents cards- You get sucked into the earth by a convection current switch spots with someone of your choice
• 6 Transform faults cards- a transform fault appears and starts moving, switch spots with the person closest to you
• 6 smarts cards-You tested a theory about tectonic plates and were correct, gain a life
• 6 lawsuit cards-You copyrighted a theory about oceanic plates and someone else used it, you sue them and win the settlement, roll a die to see how many lives you gain
8. Probability
• You have a 1 in 6 probability of drawing any chance card from the chance card pile
• You have a 1 in 6 probability of rolling any number on the die
• You have a 6 in 30 chance of landing on a chance space
• You have a 2 in 30 of chance landing on a earthquake space
• You have a 2 in 30 chance of landing on hot spot
• You have a 2 in 30 chance of landing on fault line
• You have a 3 in 30 chance of landing on a tsunami space
• You have a 3 in 30 chance to lose a life
• You have a 2 in 30 chance to gain a life
• You have a 2 in 30 chance to land on layers of earth
• You have a 2 in 30 chance to land on slab pull
• You have a 3 in 30 chance to land on a volcano spot
• You have a 1 in 30 chance of landing on continental drift
• You have a 1 in 30 chance to land on the start space
• The probability of rolling a 6 and landing on a chance space is 1/6 x 6/30= 6/180 or 1/30
• The probability of rolling a 1 and landing on a earthquake space 1/6 x 6/2= 6/12 or 1/2
• The probability of landing on a volcano space and tsunami space 3/30 x 3/30= 9/900 or 1/100
• The probability of landing on a hot spot space and a slab pull space 2/30 x 2×30= 4/900 or 1/225
• The probability of rolling a 3 and a 5 1/6 x 1/6= 1/36
