gameteacher, another recommendation. Colleen Macklin and John Sharp have trailblazed a lot of what you say you want to do. They've written books, they have a website. I heard them speak a couple times, most recently at GDC a couple weeks ago. Google "colleen macklin john sharp," and add in "petlab" too.

It looks like you can just make 2d games with ready made graphics, as opposed to designing 3d characters to then put into a game. Is that a fair assessment?

Not sure about that. Pretty sure you can import other graphics into GameMaker. I just tried googling "can you import graphics in gamemaker" and found some links...

It seems like Gamemaker is limited in the creativity/art sense. It looks like you can just make 2d games with ready made graphics, as opposed to designing 3d characters to then put into a game. Is that a fair assessment?

Not quite. You can make your own art and import it, but GameMaker isn't intended for 3D. According to the documentation it can be done, but requires extra programming work which may not suit your needs.

More broadly, I want to echo what others have posted in this thread. I really like the idea of a class like this in high school but I'll underscore that it's ambitious. For a student starting with zero knowledge of anything relating to making games, video or otherwise, or using digital art tools there is a huge amount to learn and, after having learned it (no matter how well!) there is still a huge amount of work to be done to make even a simple game. Let alone one that allows for much creativity in its development. To be clear, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with what you're talking about, only that you will likely have to make some tradeoffs on what you are envisioning in order implement the class. It will be clearer what tradeoffs you will have to choose between once you've selected some tools to try.

But no matter what combination of tools you end up with, you will find limitations you would prefer not to have. The only way to really get a feel for what those are is to start trying out tools. Give Unity a shot for a couple of weeks using stock graphics and see what you think of it. Even if you decide against it the reasons why you do so will help you get more precise suggestions on alternatives that might be a better fit.

Again, I think you should look at what's going on in education. Game Design (or development, or whatever you want to call it) is now a class being taught in high schools around the country (Yes, I know. We are all jealous). You can teach as little or as much as you choose to based on your own comfort level, the students and the resources you have available. The disconnect I'm reading in some of these posts most likely stems from the fact that some people, not having seen how this discipline works in a high school setting, think of all the complexities of their professional situation and assume that transfers to the classroom.

I have been in touch with other educators who have successfully implemented game design programs in their classrooms and they have been able to modify things so that students take away enough knowledge to form a strong foundation.

Furthermore, I don't need to be an expert in every software program I teach. I just need to have a basic familiarity and be able to facilitate the learning. Give the students some of these tools and a good framework to work in and they will take off on their own and figure the programs out themselves.

It is correct however, to say that once I start looking at the programs individually and once I start implementing them in the classroom I will come up with specific questions and I expect that this forum, with all these experts in the technology, will be most valuable. At the same time I need to talk regularly with other educators regarding pedagogy and practical issues in the classroom.

Would someone mind taking a look at the links I posted earlier and telling me what you make of the lists of software being mentioned in them? There is a startlingly large number of game design programs, but there are some that seem to be used a lot (i.e. mudbox, gamemaker and unity).

gameteacher, another recommendation. Colleen Macklin and John Sharp have trailblazed a lot of what you say you want to do. They've written books, they have a website. I heard them speak a couple times, most recently at GDC a couple weeks ago. Google "colleen macklin john sharp," and add in "petlab" too.

Thanks so much. These individuals seem like a great resource! Please let me know if you think of anything else specific to lesson planning or incorporating game development into schools.

Game Design (or development, or whatever you want to call it) is now a class being taught in high schools around the country

Game design is not the same thing as game development. Too many schools are deliberately misusing the term "game design," because it's a sexier term. And it takes advantage of the common ignorance of the meaning of the term as we in the industry use it.

If you're teaching GameMaker, or any other development tools, and ignoring board games, you are not actually teaching game design. Just because other schools are using the term doesn't mean it's not deliberate misuse of the term.

Macklin and Sharp, from my understanding of their material, teach game design AND game development. Before a student starts making something, the student should have an idea of what to make. Game design comes before game development.

The point is: the terms are not interchangeable.

I totally agree with you. I will definitely be starting the first unit with an intro to the concepts and work on paper. Students need to have a foundation to build on.

I kind of got sick of coding and wanted to see if there's anything to make games without coding.

My vote goes to GameMaker by YoYo Games. There's a free version of it, and it's specifically built to not require coding. However, it also allows the user to add code if they want to.

Now don't get me wrong, just because you don't have to code doesn't mean it's easy. Instead of coding you have an extremely in-depth user interface that gives you many of the options to change and shape your game that code would normally do. That means you must get a very strong understanding of GameMaker before you teach it (but this goes without saying I suppose).

But I think it's great news for you! You can teach game design without needing to code. It will give a good introduction for people who are interested in game design. If they want to pursue it seriously, they will have to learn to code. By I think this is a great intro. Good luck!

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

What do you all think (again) of the things on this list?

http://www.develop-online.net/tools-and-tech/the-top-16-game-engines-for-2014/0192302

So, not sure if this has been asked in this thread, what part of the 'design' are you teaching?

Are you teaching "Level Design"?

Or "Character Design"?

Or the design of the game mechanics?

Everything falls under Design, but the field is vastly different. The discussion of which game engine to use seems to focus more on building games than designing games, as Tom Sloper had pointed out.

I don't teach and haven't taught game design, nor would I call myself a professional game designer, but I feel like teaching game designs can be conceived using table-top mechanics, e.g pen/paper, rules of games, cards, turns, etc. In other words, teaching students how to design a game such that every player has equal chance of winning even though someone has to make the first turn. How to design a game such that player would feel like it can beat the game even though draw of cards/dice is random.

The disconnect I'm reading in some of these posts most likely stems from the fact that some people, not having seen how this discipline works in a high school setting, think of all the complexities of their professional situation and assume that transfers to the classroom.

I can't and won't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you why I've made the statements I have in this thread.


I started making games in elementary school on what would probably be most easily recognized as a programmable calculator of sorts. They were simple, fundamentals-oriented games because I was entirely self-taught and had no educational resources to rely on.

The games I worked on got more sophisticated over the years until they now rank among the most technologically complex consumer goods on the planet (MMORPGs).

I have seen game development from many sides, ranging from the hobby hacker in his bedroom to the largest-scale industrial production systems that exist in the business.

I am also a hiring manager. My company is located a few minutes' drive from one of the biggest and most well-known game development colleges on Earth. I see a lot of students and spend a lot of time talking to students.


The picture I want to paint here is that I am not wildly gesticulating about how hard Real Life is and freaking out about how you can't teach a professional skill set in six months. No shit. It's high school, nobody expects industry-grade professionals to walk out of there. That's not what it's for.

My point in this thread is that you have bitten off a lot, and you're not instilling me with an overabundance of confidence that you can chew what you're biting off.



I saw a lot of teachers with attitudes like yours in my own educational path, and frankly they are - to a soul - the ones I resented the most as a student. Take that for what you will, I don't expect one jaded drop-out to convert you or anything, but for the sake of the poor kids you're about to chew up and spit out, please listen to those saying that you need to scope this back and focus.