PYG: Lesson - Gaming Explorations

A group of children use gaming to learn about the solar system.Gaming Explorations

Now that we have a thorough understanding of the core game design principles, let’s explore the different types of games we play and can ultimately create. The world of gaming encompasses varied and diverse opportunities for awareness, engagement, excitement, and growth.

Think back for a moment to one of your first favorite video games. You may have played this game on a phone, tablet, computer, or some other tech device. What did you enjoy most about that game? Was it the mechanics of the game, the space, the components, or the special effects? Was it your favorite because you were able to show growth and mastery? Was the challenge of the game worth the reward(s)? Do you still play the game today or would you play it again if it popped up in your apps?

There was this great game "back in the day" called Ms. Pac-Man. It was one of the earliest arcade video games. This game had everything! Your character, Ms. Pac-Man, moved around a puzzle-style board, chomping up pellets. The "enemies" were ghosts, and Ms. Pac-Man could eat them if she got a power-up. So, the game required you to strategize on how to avoid the ghosts when they could hurt you, but then you also had to determine when to pick up power-ups, how to advance from level to level, collecting different fruits for points. Your goal in the game was to get a high score, so all of this was an attempt to get through multiple levels without using a backup.

Games Have Grown Up

The arcade games from the 1970s and 1980s, like Ms. Pac-Man, established one way for games to reach an audience. In these modern times, games are available just about everywhere you look: consoles, computers, phones, etc. The graphics and mechanics may have changed over time, but the core nature of gaming remains: we play games to have fun! Because of this, games are nearly ubiquitous (a fancy word meaning that they seem to be everywhere), and the great news is that there are even games that can be used to design other games.

One example is an app called CodeSpark. In this kid-friendly app, anyone is able to create their own games, play other kid-created games, share their game with others, and learn coding, all without even realizing that they are learning to code while doing it. Games have become so accessible that we have made it possible, through apps like CodeSpark, to allow just about anyone in the world to make and share games.

Types of Games

What makes our gaming experience different? The types of video games we play.

In this lesson, we will explore six different types of video games. Ready…set…GAME ON!

  • Role-playing games (RPG): Electronic game genre in which players advance through a story quest, and often many side quests, for which their character or party of characters gain experience that improves various attributes and abilities (www.britannica.com).
  • Real-time strategy games (RTS): Refers to a time-based video game that centers around using resources to build units and defeat an opponent. Real-time strategy games are often compared to turn-based strategy games, where each player has time to carefully consider the next move without having to worry about the actions of his opponent (www.techopedia.com).
  • Simulation games: Games designed to mimic real-world activities.
  • Puzzle games: Games of logic that tests a person’s ingenuity in problem solving challenges.
  • Educational games: Games with the intended purpose of gaining knowledge, skill, and or abilities in order to show growth and mastery.
  • Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO): Online games in which thousands of people play the game on the same server at the same time; it is common for players to interact with each other in the gaming environment. In this type of gaming environment, it is common to have many progressive areas/levels for exploration.

Can you think of any other types of video games that may not fall into one of the six categories above or may include two or more types of games? MMORPG is an example of two or more types of games in one. MMORPG is the acronym for massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Can you think of any other combinations or genres?

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