Students+Creating+Games

toc =Students as Producers of Games =

Gamebrix
Gamebrix is an online platform for designing, animating and publishing adobe flash games. From the site: "GameBrix Builder enables anyone to create and test a game from scratch. From defining game objects and mechanics to defining personalized graphics and animation, GameBrix Builder enables rapid development of games." Unfortunately, there is a monthly fee for subscribing, however, there is a free trial session for those who want to see what the program is like before purchasing.

The image to the right, is an example of a game created using Gamebrix.

It is a flash game in which you control the ant at the bottom of the screen with the arrow keys. To help rescue the falling ants, you can shoot leaves into the air so that they do not drown.

Scratch
[|Scratch] is a free software designed by MIT, which lets students create and share games, environments, interactive stories, characters, and animations, using a simplified programming language.

Creating and playing games encourages students to develop what Gee calls "The 36 Learning Principles". When students become producers, they engage in active, critical and committed learning, experience visual and textual literacy and understand semiotics (interrelations within and across multiple sign systems) (Gee 2006).

Scratch can be used in connection to the curriculum in fundamental ways. Students can create advertisements for their games, using multimedia such as music and videos to promote their games. Students can create and publish YouTube videos advertising their games or filming walk-throughs of their games or they can write manuals explaining their games, how to play, and why they chose certain aspects.

Scratch also offers planning sheets and guidelines for projects to help keep students organized in the design process.

[|ScratchEd] offers a variety of resources for educators who are engaging with Scratch in the classroom and it is highly recommended.

**Stagecast**
[|Stagecast] is another resource to create interactive simulations, stories and video games without programming language. Stagecast, unlike Scratch, requires purchase fees to order the packages and licensing fees for schools. There is a free Evaluation version but it is limited in what is offered.