Lecture: Dissecting the game- video game genres, game mechanics and connection between games and learning

on April 7th, 2013 I gave a talk about video games to educators working at CET israel.

these guys know nothing about gaming but know everything about education and teaching. they also understood that there is something about the game that catches the kids like nothing else before.

this is a lecture for listeners who never played video games before. it tries to explain why people love to play so much, why players get so involved; why do they play more than they watch TV; what happens inside the game that leaves the player with a feeling of "i want more"?

when you listen closely, you'll hear a lot of psychology and neurology.

Outlines of the lecture:

1. What is a game? what is the difference between a game and a toy or between a game and a movie? we'll try to get a clear definition.
2. Video game genres. video games have genres, much like any other type of media. actually, the genres are much easier to define. we will discover the secret of each genre, where is the fun in playing it and which players would play that genres.
3. Game design literacy. these are the professional terms game developers and gamers use to define games. understanding these terms will help you grasp the components of the game and their meaning to creating the experience. you'll see that there is tremendous importance to how the user learns to play. knowing the right terms would allow you to speak with game developers and better define your game to them. this will also assist you with better defining your game.
4. Where games and learning connect? where are the similarities between the two areas? we'll see that educational content areas, like: physics, biology and business management (and there are many more), already exist in nowadays video games. we'll talk on the psychology behind the game and interesting neurology facts happenning in the player's mind. what is Gamification and how we can create something like it?

Feedback

interesting questions rose from the audience that day. i would write articles about these subjects, so stay tuned. here are some:

• Do violent games not promoting violent people? 

• Are games detached from the reality? do players see their in-game characters as themselves? do players experience their in-game character's pain as their own?

• How can we incorporate simulation typed games, such as SimCity and RollerCoasterTycoon, into the classroom?

• How can in-game achievements and side-goals shape and determine the game culture? Can games teach moral codes?

• and many more.

Oz, S. (2013). Dissecting the game: video game genres, game mechanics and the connection between games and education. Tel Aviv: Center of Educational Technology.

Bare Knuckles: boxing motion capture game

Bare Knuckles is one of the first game titles of Omek Interactive. It is a classic ring boxing game, only each character has a special twitch. 

Choose your avatar: "D for Dragon" who can blow fire, "the Blob" could swallow his opponent and "Bruce le Sharque" who uses his dead alligator for powerful smacks.

I was one of the two game designers of this title.

created at: 2010


team:
+Eli Elhadad
+Yaron Yanai
+Yinon Oshrat
+Barak Segal
+Bar S
+Amir Rosenberger
+Noam Gat
Edna Nuama

Lecture: Similarities between game design and instructional design

On July 10th 2012, I gave a lecture about the similarities between designing a game and designing a lesson in classroom, at one of the biggest educational conferences in Israel: IUCEL Meital.

the lecture strove to show that educational and instructional design could learn from game design at how to tangle the users into the web of curiosity, challenge and fun.
I talked about 9 main design principals in the game design theory that can be used also in instructional design:

1. the player as the Messiah. let the user feel that without him the session cannot be over. if the user will not make the right move, nothing will happen. make sure you put it all into a good story.
2. rules. setup rules for the game/ lesson. only when you have rules, the users will try and break them. without rules, they will try and break the teacher... 
3. feeling of control. let the user feel they are in control, but actually you should control all the possible routes and choices they could make.
4. immediate feedback. give feedback as fast as you can, as precise as possible.
5. goals. setup big goals and smaller goals to keep the users on track.
6. balance the amount of content. no content is boring. too much content confuse.
7. balance the challenge and the ability. don't be afraid to challenge your users, just make sure they feel competent to the task. 
8. develop the feeling of success. make sure your users succeed. after a hard task, give an easy one.
9. reflection. always assist the user to reflect their performance.

my presentation for download (hebrew).
all other lectures' from the conference can be downloaded as well (hebrew). 

Adventure Park: motion capture video game

Evil Master has taken over the famous adventure park and the Dragon family come to the rescue. Evil Master has a plan to capture the family of heroes in order to be able to take over the world!

Play the family heroes in six different levels, from entering the park, capturing the huge evil Mage and fighting Evil Master. six different gameplays, combining: boxing, magics (fireball, shield, etc), sliding on rails and more.

The game is now available as a part of a new Chinese TV and game console, called CT510, from Eedoo, a publisher from Lenovo.

created at: 2009-2011


team:
+Eli Elhadad
+Yaron Yanai
+Yinon Oshrat
+Barak Segal
+Bar S
+Amir Rosenberger
+Noam Gat
Edna Nuama
and the rest of Omek Interactive

Galactic Surfers: motion capture game

concept: motion capture based video game. created by the Omek Interactive studios where I work as a game designer and level designer.

released at: 2011

team:
+Eli Elhadad
+Yaron Yanai
+Yinon Oshrat
+Barak Segal
+Bar S
+Amir Rosenberger
+Noam Gat
Edna Nuama

and the rest of Omek's team

TowerDefensAR: Augmented Reality video game

Goal: Defend your treasure box as long as you can!

How it works:

the 2 markers draw an electricity line between them, which can destroy the monsters who wish to steal your treasure.

Live Play:

play here on a bigger screen.

How to play:

1. print the two markers.
2. allow the application to activate your webcam.
3. start a new game and fight for your treasure.

created at: 2011

Lecture: The Future Of Augmented Reality Gaming & Hands-on AR In Flash

on 23 of December, 2010 I have talked at the Israeli Flash&Flex group conference about the current vibes and future directions of Augmented Reality gaming. Moreover, I have released an open source code of functional AR flash application and thoroughly explained its code. The action-script developers have learned about the technology, how it influences UI and game design and also how to create one of their own.

Covered subjects:

1. what is augmented reality? what types of AR are there from the technical point of view? what do one need in order to see an augmented reality and to develop one?

2. Limitations and advantages of augmented reality is flash.

3. The augmented reality user interface. how AR influences the creation of UI? what types of UI have already been tried before?

4. AR gaming and influences of game design. how can we design our game to make it most suitable to the advantages and limitation of the technology? Example games and game designs.

5. Creating your first AR in Flash. how does the 3D world works in Flash? what are the basic elements in creating and programming a 3D world? I have released a fully-functional AR application and explained how to continue from there: how to add more objects, interaction and GUI elements. 

Lecture: Using Augmented Reality & video games inside your classroom

On December 9th, 2010, I have presented the AR technology and video games to the Information & Communication Technology, a course meant to improve the tech-accessibility skills for teachers and educators at Mofet institute. 

The teachers have understood the new technologies and learned about the role of the teacher in the "tech-classroom".  

The lecture goals were:

1. Lowering the hesitation and fear from technology at teachers and empowering them with tools allowing them to examine and test video games.

2. Showing the similarity between a good educational content and a good video game: gradual learning, continuous challenge, giving the feeling of "I can", and FUN.

3. There is no substitute for the teacher. Technology is just a tool. 

4. Showing that technology exists. The ball is in the educators court. They have to show the industry where and what to develop.

Here is the Prezi presentation I used during the lecture. 

Augmented Reality & Games in Education on Prezi

update:

here is a concept map that was drawn by one of the listeners, Lizi Cohen

De-Click Game v2.0: learn spelling

concept: further development of the first version. read description of gameplay there.

the improvements made in this version are:

1. player must click the letters by the order they are in the word itself.

2. difficulty level affects the amount of assistance the player receives during the game.

3. letters are visible to the player during the game. a correct click causes a feedback.

4. the gameplay is better explained.

"Living in the Holy Land", Educational Video Game

concept:
making the learning the bible more fun by playing the history of the biblical stories instead of reading it in the classroom. the game is a role play adventure game, where the student is playing characters from the biblical story and face the same problems and issues they needed to face. Living in the Holy Land is rich in full 3D graphics, similar quality to AAA known video games, in order to allow the student see every small detail in the biblical world. the game stages are parallel to bible chapters, in order to be easily adapted into the school's curriculum. learning the story is not the only thing the game teaches. a more thorough paper will be translated into English soon.

created at: February 2009 (project in process)

Simple Jigsaw Pazel Maker in Flash

concept: a simple jigsaw pazel maker. the only thinng left to do is to add the pazel pieces into the right place. an FLA file will be uploaded soon (as soon as i finish the usage instructions).

created at: 11 June 2008

Learning with games : costumized search engine

idea: create a dynamic and interactive resource environment based on Lib2.0 and Learning2.0 concepts.

we have chosen the field area of learning with games and how to combine these two fields.

result: an iGoogle group environment, which included unique RSS collection, a couple of customized search engines, and more apps and gadgets.
this search engine has been developed since. you are most invited to use it. its free of course.



created at: September 2007

created with: Yuval Shafriri, Ori Grundshtein, Ofir Rosenberg, Yuval Alis

check an email application

created at: October 2007

my first pong game

created at: November 2007

Harnessing the power of games into education: Article presentation

View Upload your own

concept: presents the main concepts in the article of Squire and Jenkins about "Harnessing the power of games into education".

created at: March 2008

De Click Game: learn spelling

concept: the main goal is to teach young kids (ages 3-6) how to spell. it tries to use a simple menus and fun gameplay in order to attract players and motivate them. the player has to click the letters in the name of the animal presented to him and reach a specific number of total clicks. reaching that number will stop the score from dropping, and setting it to the player's score. 

the gameplay was inspired by the "click the spacebar game".  

created at: January 2008