by Fiona Prince and Nicolette Young
What we investigated:
We decided to discover if there were enough resources available for someone to learn how to create a simple video game for adult learners. Specifically, we wanted answers to the following questions:
- What software is available and recommended?
- How long would it take someone to learn how to create a game?
- Are there free software or free trials available to practice?
- What technology do you need to create a game (software and hardware)?
- Are there active and supportive learning communities and user groups to help newcomers create games? (Some user groups may be too technical for the average person).
What we found:
A Google search on “create video games” returned articles that claim you do not need any experience to create a video game. This seems unlikely because at the very least, a person needs to know the fundamentals of how to use a computer.
We also found that we needed to be more specific about the type of game we wanted to create. The amount of effort and time required to create even a simple video game will depend on the genre, such as puzzles, shooters, adventures, to name a few.
Using the search string “how to create educational video games”, we found a plethora of websites and resources including:
- Many commercial blog posts with lists (top 5; top 10) of how to incorporate games or gamification into learning design.
- Learning industry and community sites such as Elearningindustry.com, Articulate E-learning Heroes Community, and elearningbrothers.com, that contain informative articles and tutorials.
- Recommendations for authoring tools that include gamification elements.
- Online classes to learn how to create educational games.
- And of course, a bazillion sites trying to sell their gaming software, assets, and swag.
Confidence in the abundant content around our topic enabling us to learn about it:
We are confident that there is abundant content on how to create simple video games; however, many of the resources assume a high level of computer literacy and ability. Few resources provide a concrete timeline for how long it will take someone to create a game. For example, in his article How to Make a Video Game (Experience Not Required), Brandon Widder (2017) claimed it took ten hours for him to create one level of a simple motion game; however, he did not reveal his level of computer skills. According to his bio, he is a multi-media journalist. So, perhaps he is not your average user.
Was abundant content enough:
Abundant content actually inhibited our ability to find the targeted content we were looking for. The industry articles and tutorials seemed to be the best starting place while commercial sites seemed to entice readers to purchase their software or services through the information they provide.
To sort through the abundant content for all the relevant information took a significant amount of time which must be factored into the time it would take to learn to create a video game. Widder’s (2017) ten hours could be doubled. This supports Weller’s (2011) view that abundant content “changes the consumer’s relationship to content, [as] it is no longer the content that is [sic] scarce, but their own time and attention [that] becomes the key scarce resource”.
What you need to make use of the content:
First you need to know the offline elements for creating an educational game, including the learning outcomes, audience, technology (e.g. iOS, Android, Windows). Then you need to discern between the real experts and the marketers—those who wish to share their knowledge vs those who wish to sell a product.
Weller (2011) refers to the pedagogy of scarcity in the context of classroom learning where the lecturer is the expert; there is one expert for many learners. On the internet, in order to learn how to create a simple video game, we need to first unearth who the experts are before we can trust that the learning materials will meet our needs.
Ways we can make use of this content:
As instructors in an online course, we could design an assignment for learners to create a simple video using a specific, easy to use video-game software package. We would provide comprehensive tutorials with worked-examples for learners to follow and three scenarios (relevant to the area of study) to choose from.
We felt that by providing the software and associated assets (graphics, sound effects, music), learners would be able to focus more time on their subject matter than on getting lost in the abundant content on what software to use and how to use it.
References
Ertmer, P., & Newby, T. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.
Weller, M. (2010). A pedagogy of abundance. Spanish Journal of Pedagogy. 249 pp. 223–236.
Widder, B. (May 8, 2017). How to make a video game (experience not required) [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/how-to-make-a-video-game/