An Authoring Tool to Engage Younger Audiences in the Development of Nature Preservation Games: The G4N Toolkit to Game Design

Abstract

AbstractAlthough research indicates that integrating students as active agents in the development of games encourages awareness and learning by doing and can be seen as a basis for the development of critical thinking skills, it also stresses that there are some obstacles in involving students to explore educational contents through digital game design. This paper introduces the Gamers4Nature toolkit to Game Design and its use by upper-secondary (N = 53) and undergraduate (N = 114) students along several game design sessions addressing an environmental preservation theme. As result of these sessions, 66 prototypes of digital games were produced. The toolkit was used through questionnaires applied by the end of the game design sessions. Results indicate that the Toolkit was a very useful resource in scaffolding the narrative construction process and that its resources are adequate to be used by for both upper-secondary and undergraduate students, and that it can be seen as a valuable resource to support educators and trainers in educational and serious game design activities.