Exploring Patterns of Design Thinking in Play-Fixing Three Different Broken Games

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Breaking, Building, and Broadcasting: Analog and Digital Games and Affinity Spaces for Learning

Abstract

Cultivating learners’ ability to think like designers has become a popular goal across educational settings. Designing tabletop games can be an engaging way to introduce learners to designerly ways of thinking. However, creating tabletop games from scratch is a challenging task. The purpose of this study was to explore how participant engagement in designerly thinking varies when playing and fixing (playfixing) three different partially complete games (broken games). Our findings indicate how playfixing tabletop games with varied levels of complexity, playability, and rule definition lead to different patterns for designerly thinking. This is a first step towards understanding how the constraints associated with various elements of broken games might direct participants towards desired modes of designerly thinking.

Authors

• Elisabeth R. Gee, Arizona State University

• Jeremy Bernier, Arizona State University

• Taylor M. Kessner, Arizona State University

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

• Yuchan (Blanche) Gao, Arizona State University - Tempe