Week 12 - Final Game Reflection

I call my project “Skip the Skier Slope Game.”  Skip is a beginner skier that cannot go down slopes steeper than -1.  A fun and energetic dancing guy takes the player through different animated ski slope.  The player is given the rise and run and has to use this information to determine whether Skip is able to go down the slope or not. The player encounters multiple skills while playing the game.  First, the student needs to calculate slope.  Then the player needs to be able to determine whether the slope is steeper than -1.  This helps students truly understand what slope is.  I came up with the idea because I was teaching slope to 8^th graders.  They let me know at the beginning of the unit that slope was really confusing and they had no clue what it even meant; they just knew it had something to do with rise, run, x values, y values, and graphing.  When I introduced slope, I introduced as a real concept: A numerical value given to a line/incline/ramp to describe its steepness.  I found that once students were able to realize that okay a slope of -3 is steeper than a slope of -1, calculating and remember how to calculate slope became easier.  I wanted to create a slope game that mirrored this real world thinking.

Creating this game was challenging at times.  I had to create all of the backgrounds for my  animated ski slope.  I used triangles in Paint and the created the picture around the triangle so I could get a precise look at what a slope of -1.5 would look like.  I learned so much about animation during the process;  I literally spent hours just trying to figure out how to do something like transitions backgrounds and Sprite animations simultaneously.   It was a rewarding experience because I began to grow a tremendous amount of respect for animators. 

I am very proud of my project.  I am not sure what I am “most proud” of; I am extremely pleased with the finished product.  I didn’t know that I was capable of creating an interactive computer game, but I am!

I am happy to say that my game does provide explicit examples of principles of good gaming and good learning.  The learner must take on a new identity; they become ski experts that are helping a friend, Skip, safely choose slopes to go down.  The game is interactive; it does talk back and even give the gamer hints when he/she makes incorrect decisions.  The player becomes a producer; he/she makes the decision on the slopes that are alright for Skip.  The game allows for players to take risks; if they answer incorrectly, it is okay; they will get a hint.  The game involves well-ordered problems; the problems at the beginning are easier and the hints at the beginning are more in-depth.  This order also challenges the player.  The game can be pleasantly frustrating for some students, challenging, but doable.  System thinking is needed for my game; students aren’t just simply finding the slope; they are “using” the slope.