Workshop on Game Design PrototypingACM ISS 2022

This workshop will take place over half a day and focus on tools and example projects that break down necessary and sufficient elements of effective game design, tips to create and encourage small group design ideas, and potential environmental challenges that can be overcome or at least approached with low-cost and accessible tools and platforms. We will focus on physical prototypes but can also examine games using game engines or specific XR formats but we don’t expect to have HMDs available.

Call for Participation

This workshop will take place over half a day and focus on tools and example projects that break down necessary and sufficient elements of effective game design, tips to create and encourage small group design ideas, and potential environmental challenges that can be overcome or at least approached with low-cost and accessible tools and platforms. We will focus on physical prototypes but can also examine games using game engines or specific XR formats but we don’t expect to have HMDs available.

We will work in groups of 3 and 4 on provided game challenges, ideas developed by individual groups or we can (with enough notice) work on improving and game-testing ideas and prototypes provided by attendees.

The proposed schedule will be (if the half-day session is 3.5 hours, it can be adjusted up or down):

TOTAL HOURS: 3.5

Outcomes

Ideally, by the end of the workshop, the participants will:

• Provide (at some stage of the experience), a framework in which the player (or perhaps, here, participant is a better word) gains an overview of what has been documented, simulated, or construed.
• Convey a sense of the historical context, and the way in which that shaped the actions of the inhabitants.
• Affordances to help participants understand and explain the information in a way that suits them rather than the designer and to allow for different pathways, actions and goal selection.
• Encourage the participants to seek out more information for themselves beyond the immediate simulation.

Organizers

Enterprise Fellow Erik Champion, has organized game design workshops in Australia, Italy, Poland, Qatar, Finland, and USA. He specializes in virtual heritage and serious games for history and heritage.

Simon McCallum is a games expert and has over 25 years experience having taught games in New Zealand and Norway. Simon has also spent some time working for games companies in Norway. Simon helped setup the NZ Games Development Conference in the early - mid 2000s.

Face to Face Attendance

This workshop will be physical but the first 45 minutes (introductions and background to tools and techniques) could be accessible online if required. Ideally, the workshop will be 12 to 20 people.

Venue Details

Room: RH104 (Rutherford House Level 1 Room 104)

Zoom Link: https://vuw.zoom.us/my/iss2022w4

Contact

Please contact Erik.Champion@unisa.edu.au for further information about submissions.

Registration

To register to attend the workshop please see the ACM ISS Registration Information.