How are thematic and mathematical elements used in game design?

Introduction:

I found this project extremely difficult however, in the end taught me a great deal concerning plate tectonics. Even though I had issues with combing elements science and math together or trouble understanding certain math concept in the end I think I understand mostly everything. These past weeks have flown by extremely quickly and I can’t believe we are done this unit. This unit taught me great deal concerning team work, understanding concepts and creating.

Milestone one:

How can a game be based on a science concept?

For milestone one we were tasked with creating a very basic game design before we have learned anything. We titled our game “playing god” due to how in the game the main goal was to destroy as many civilizations as possible. We were put into a group with our desk partner and the students in the desk behind them, however, the final game was to be created with our desk partner. One of thing we could of improved on I believe is team work since our team argue a great deal on the objective and the rules of the game. However, I think we did amazing on creating a good idea for a potential game. The rules and goals of this game will heavily influence me and my desk partner’s game in the future.

Milestone two:

What are the impacts of tectonic plate movement?

For this milestone we were tasked with creating a basic vocabulary for our game project. Me and my partner, Aaron, had to list the vocabulary we have learned from reading textbook pages and working on worksheets. Fortunately, I created notes for each textbook page and worksheet we worked on in class which made it easier to find certain information for scientific concepts. We were able to quickly create a detail and simple vocabulary. Overall, this milestone helped my group to better create a concrete game.

Milestone three:

This milestone was most definitely the least challenging out of all the milestones. For milestone three we were meant to only do a khan academy test on Earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. We were aloud to retake the test multiple times until we got eighty percent or more. However, one thing I hope we did different about these quizzes is that I wished we did a test about more of what we learned instead of what someone learning about tectonic plates in khan academy would learn. I hope next test we can explore our what we learned instead of what someone else learned.

Milestone four:

How can we make our game more exciting and engaging by including probability and plate tectonic concepts?

Milestone four took a great deal of talking and changing in order to achieve a final product. We first needed to design our game rules and create a basic understanding of how each rule will be incorporated in our game. Our game was extremely inspired by goal of the game created in the first milestone, destroy all the civilizations. At the start I believe we struggled with coming up with a concrete plan with how our game will turn out however, I think we figured out how to create a solid game plan. Our game had to do with cards since probability had to be incorporated in our game. We created a card to determine which type of plates civilization you can destroy, what type of disaster you can destroy and which type of fault which will determine how much damage you can cause to the civilizations.

One detail I think we did amazing on was fitting all of our scientific concept into the game. We added in concepts such as the seismograph, the magnitude tracker and the ring of fire. One detail I think we should of improved on is making our instruction more clear. Our game rules we were told were too simple which made it harder for the players to follow along with our game.

Milestone five:

How can we make physical card for our game?

Creating the actual pieces for the game was much more difficult than I imagined. This due to us having to create a great deal of pieces and along the way finding problems with our game. At first we planned on creating around one hundred cards however, changed that number to forty-four once we realized that we could never make that many cards. I think we did amazing on making our piece look appealing and simples. If we were to do this milestone again I think we could improve on planning what we should create in what order and how much of one piece should we make.

Milestone six:

How can I teach others how to play the game that I created?

On the day when our game was presented things went wrong. One of the things we learned was that our instruction weren’t clear which made most of our players confused and wanting to go play another game. Fortunately, once we explain our game to a few of the players they started to understand how to play and ended up actually enjoying our game. Another detail we could of improved on was making our game shorter since the players weren’t able to finish the game due to it most likely taking an hour to finish the whole game. However, I’m proud that we were able to make such a complex game and I hope to improve in the future.

Core competencies

Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of evidence?

Their are several ways I showed evidence for understanding this project. I took detail notes on all our scientific concepts and wrote detail explanation for each science concept in milestone two. In our game we included concepts to start earthquakes such as faults and the ring of fire. Even in our cards we showcased what each plate and fault look like. In general, I believe I full meant the expectation for this competence.

Demonstrate a sustained intellectual curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest?

For this competence I believe I moderately met the expectations. I tried my hardest to answer each question posed to me on the worksheet and milestone accurately. One thing I could improved was showing my curiosity in class by participating in class. This could be by class discussion, asking questions or assisting my fellow classmates. I can improve this in the future by trying to answer only the questions I am extremely confident I know the answer. I hope to improve this competence in the future.

Develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through play, inquiry, and problem solving?

I believe I show a competent understanding in the competence, even though I wasn’t that experience with probability. When we were starting probability I was quite confused however, once I started working more on mathematical concepts I start to understand how probability. I believe we accurately displayed probability in our game by showing example of your chances of getting two or more card in one turn. I’m excited to explore new mathematical concepts in the future.

Conclusion:

Overall, I think I can most definitely do better in the future. I believe I should of tried to participate more in class discussion and tried to ask more questions. One thing I did amazing on I believe was having a good understanding of tectonic plates. In the future I hope to show a better understanding in my scientific and mathematical concepts.

Group Member:

http://www.blog44.ca/aaronp/