Game Design by Middle School Students

We’re wrapping up the game design class at Spirit Lake this week. Two weeks was the most time I could spare away from the office but we have accomplished a lot.

Applications used in game design by middle school students

Because all of the students had just completed grades 4 through 7, much of the software they would be using was new to them. Not to mention I had to spend five hours installing it all on the first day! We also played several games to get an idea of genre and what was feasible to do on a budget that didn’t rival Nintendo. To name just part of what the students learned:

• Using onedrive for file sharing
• Using Word for iPad to take notes and share those notes via Outlook
• Photo editing with the iPad photo app
• Video editing with iMovie
• Lots of math using Spirit Lake: The Game , Making Camp Lakota, Making Camp Premium and Math: The Universal Language Lakota

Student Game Design Ideas

We ended up with a 12-page, single-spaced, Word document with notes — and a few sketches — for several games, as well as suggestions for improving existing games. We also have dozens of photos to use as a basis for images in the game and at least an hour of video. After submitting their ideas, students receive suggestions and requests for clarification from the developers, that they then need to answer.