AlchemyKnights is a transformational game designed to teach adolescents and teens about the dangers of over-the-counter medication misuse. In this session we will discuss design strategies for transformational games, mapping design features to transformational outcomes, and using an iterative develop-playtest-fix approach to evaluate and measure the transformational effect

1. Mapping Game Design to
Transformational Outcomes
Serious Play Conference 2018

2. Name: Dmitriy Babichenko Titles:
1. Professor of Practice
2. Director, Learning Technologies Lab
Primary Appointment: School of Computing &
Information
Secondary Appointment: School of Pharmacy
Age: Irrelevant
Zodiac Sign: Aries

3. Name: Lorin Grieve
Title: Reverend Lady Doctor
Vocation: Instructor, Instructional
Designer, Game Designer
Primary Appointment: School of Pharmacy
Secondary Appointment: School of
Computing & Information
Species: Fox/Raven Chimera

4. Who: Ravi Patel
What: New Idea Mercenary (Staff/Faculty
Hybrid)
Where: School of Pharmacy
When: 6+ year in education/practice Why:
Make bad things good
Acknowledgements
To Dr.Olufunmilola Abraham,
PhD, MS, BPharm1, this project’s original PI,
William O’Toole and Daniel Justice for game

5. design and implementation, Jonathan Velez for
game design and project management, Tammy
Young, for coordinating resources, and Alison
Feathers,
MPH, for working with study participants
Over-the-counter (OTC) medication
misuse
• Dextromethorphan (DXM)
• Loperamide

6. • Tylenol
OTC medication misuse
Trends in Prevalence of Cough Medicine
(non-prescription) for 8th Graders, 10th
Graders, and 12th Graders; 2017
• 8th Graders: 2.1%
• 10th Graders 3.6%
• 12th Graders 3.2%

7. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/over-counter-medicines
What do adventure games and
preventing OTC misuse have in
common?
What problem are we trying to
address?
Who Is Our Target Audience?

9. If your target audience does not
like your game ...

10. ...and still does not like your
game...

14. What transformational effect
are we trying to achieve?
What game mechanics can you
create to achieve the desired
effect?
Game teaches concepts of appropriate medication use through
mechanics of using potions to maintain player’s health

15. How do you reinforce desired
behaviors?
Potions
Alchemy
Book
Health Status
Bar
Potions’Half
Life Bars

16. Players come to understand the serious negative
ramifications from medication misuse and abuse
Too much
red potion
Red Potion
restores health,
but too much of
it causes
slowness

17. How Do We Measure The
Transformational Effect?

19. Measuring Short-Term Efficacy
• Pretest
• Playtest
• Posttest
• Debriefing (post-playtest interview)
What game are you trying to
design?

20. Warning - if you don’t
have a game in mind, we
will pitch one of ours
and then steal your
ideas...
What game are you
trying to design?
• What problem are you trying to address?
• Who is your target audience?

21. • What transformational effect are you trying to
achieve?
• How do you measure that transformational effect?
• What game mechanics can you create to achieve
the desired effect?
• How do you reinforce desired behaviors?
Questions?

22. Dmitriy Babichenko
Thank you!