Slides created on-the-fly during a Tech Tutorial at the American Alliance of Museums annual meeting on April 28, 2015. Participants in the session helped us answer questions in the process of developing a game.

1. Ready, Set, Play!
Getting Started with Game Development
Susan Edwards, Hammer Museum
@jolifanta
Seema Rao, Cleveland Museum of Art
@artlust
David Schaller, eduweb
@davidschaller

2. Let’s make a game!
[frightening blank page]

3. Let’s make a game!
Creating a game is
designing an experience.

4. Ready, Set, Play!
[this is where you play with us]

5. Ready, Set, Play!
What type of museum?
What is the goal?
Who is the audience?
What do players do?
What is the space?
Is it social?
Synchronous or asynchronous?
What is the role of staff?
Is content intrinsic to the game?

6. What type of museum?
Natural History Museum
Ecosystems

7. What is the goal?
Institutional goal > Understand how ecosystems work,
and how we influence ecosystems.
Sustainability.
Experience the information.
Player goal >
Primary = Foreign element introduced – you have to
return the ecosystem to balance.
Levels = Player evolves – natural selection (Spore game
tried to do this)

8. Who is the audience?
Kids first (adults pretend to be kids)
8+

9. What do players do?
Earn something that they can then place within the
ecosystem machine and see what happens
System loses pieces, put pieces back to return balance
Feedback with a CO2 meter.
Manipulate the abiotic (non-living) factors, see how
biotic reacts.

10. What is the space?
Not a kiosk on a small screen in the gallery.
In the museum – possibly progressive. Can player
experience the ecosystem in the museum? Stations
in the galleries relate to the game.

11. Is it social?
Yes – individual actions, but group decision-making
influences each step.

12. Synchronous or asynchronous?
Does it have to be synchronous because it’s in-
gallery? No.
If it doesn’t have a start and end, it could be
asynchronous.
You are playing synchronously. Overall game is
asynchronous.

13. What is the role of staff?
Provide content.
Build a balance board – a mechanical system that
players manipulate. Can also do this virtually.
Needs to be unfacilitated.
Staff does maintenance.

14. What’s the game?
[convince a 12-year-old to play the game]

15. Is content intrinsic to the game?

16. Play testing!

17. Ready, Set, Play!
[let’s do it again]

18. What type of museum?

19. What is the goal?

20. Who is the audience?

21. What do players do?

22. What is the space?

23. Is it social?

24. Synchronous or asynchronous?

25. What is the role of staff?

26. What’s the game?
[convince a 12-year-old to play the game]

27. Is content intrinsic to the game?

28. Play testing!

29. You Rock!!
Thank You!
Susan Edwards, Hammer Museum
@jolifanta
Seema Rao, Cleveland Museum of Art
@artlust
David Schaller, eduweb
@davidschaller