Unlike the mini projects where you can select a product to incorporate into the Design Project, everyone needs to complete the Gamemaker’s Apprentice book. Your job is to go through the chapters on schedule as outlined on the course calendar. The gamemaker book is a cookbook that gradually introduces you in a scaffolded manner to the various aspects of coding and running the various programs in Gamemaker. The goal is to give you come small experience in what it is like to program a complete game and make it behave in a way you want it to. This is not necessarily an endorsement for this game, but because the book is very clear and an easy read, I thought it would be appropriate for use in this course, especially if you have never had the experience of programming before.
You will not be turning in any artifact for this project. Rather, you will be asked to turn in a reflective journal in which you keep your design notes as you move along (you need an entry for each cycle) and a summary white paper (4-8 pages) at the end of the term that
- outlines your experiences and impressions of the game and book, and
- project notes as to how you might integrate any one or more of the games into a classroom.
The idea is to see if there is a fit for these types of games and to reflect on your practice with it.