Design Games and Designerly Thinking: A New Approach

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Designing for Games, Simulations, and Virtual Learning Environments

Abstract

In this paper, we propose design games as a means of introducing designerly thinking to learners
who are not in professional design contexts. Design games reduce the complexity of open-ended
game design while retaining features of games and game making that support designerly
thinking. In our design games, participants adopt the role of player/designer and collaborate in
groups to solve design problems in incomplete board games. We describe the rationale for design
games, their key features, and preliminary evidence of how playing design games encourages
designerly thinking. We argue that design games can serve as a basis for more formal
introductions to design processes, strategies, and understandings.
Purpose

Authors

• Elisabeth R. Gee, Arizona State University

• Taylor M Kessner, Arizona State University

• Luis Enrique Perez Cortes, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Arizona State University