作者：Sharon Bollergame

在上一篇文章中，我探讨了玩和评估游戏。这一次，我将继续介绍设计一款学习型游戏的过程。请快速预览以下5个步骤：（请点击此处阅读本系列第一、第三、第四篇）

本文（以及接下来几篇）将着重于第二个步骤：熟悉游戏术语和元素以及如何使用它们。在你能够设计出一款好游戏以前，你必须能够设定游戏目标、选择游戏动态、创造强大的游戏机制和选择合适的游戏元素。现在，我将重点介绍前两个要求：游戏目标和游戏动态以及它们之间如何产生联系。

sharon_chart(from theknowledgeguru.com)

游戏目标

游戏目标描述了游戏的目的，或者说，为了赢利游戏，你必须做什么。以下是我们做过的学习型游戏的游戏目标：

game-goals-alt(from theknowledgeguru)

1、获得所有“Topic Mastery”，成为“Knowledge Guru”。

2、获得70万美元的销量，并且最大化用户满意度。

3、在45钟内建设计和测试一座桥梁，使之达到达到所有国家标准。

4、在3个月内安置所有无家可归的玩家。

5、让所有人在尽可能少的步骤内离开电梯。（这是我们给正在开发中的游戏的全新目标。）

当制作一款学习型游戏是，你要考虑一下：

1、游戏目标与学习目标或学习目的是不同的。例如，在电梯游戏（游戏邦注：上述第5个目标）中，学习目标是能够在5个步骤内完成与某事件调查有关的任务。而我们的游戏目标是，你必须让所有人离开电梯，以帮助他们学习任务和步骤。

2、如果你的游戏不好玩，那就再看看游戏目标。它真的是游戏目标吗？还是只是对如何完成学习任务的一个描述？（匹配任务和步骤是学习活动的一个例子。）

游戏动态

你必须能够识别和选择不同的游戏动态。游戏动态其实有可能变成游戏目标，或者玩家完成目标的方法。游戏可以专注于仅仅一个动态或结合使用若干不同的动态。常见的游戏动态包括：

game-dynamics-alt(from theknowledgeguru)

1、竞速：在使用了这种动态的游戏中，玩家要互相竞争或对抗游戏系统，以争取最先完成任务、达到目的地或目标等。Milton Bradley的《Game of Life》就是一款竞速游戏。《马里奥赛车》也是一款典型的竞速游戏。使用这种常见动态的游戏是非常容易设计的。

2、收集：当游戏具有收集动态时，游戏目标就是通过收集一种或几种东西。《Knowledge Guru》使用收集动态。玩家必须收集“Topic Mastery”徽章。一旦他们收集到所有徽章，就成为“Knowledge Guru”。《Trivial Pursuit》将收集与竞速相结合：首先你必须收集一系列色卡，然后成为第一个到达中心圆圈并正确回答最后问题的人。

3、占领版图：在这种机制中，你的任务就是获得领土、土地或房产。《Risk》是使用这类动态的经典案例。《大富翁》是一款结合了占领版图动态和收集动态的游戏。

4、解决问题：使用这类动态的游戏要求玩家解决益智题或难题。桌面游戏《Clue》和冒险游戏《机械迷城》都使用了这种动态。

5、拯救或逃脱：这类动态广泛运用于冒险游戏：玩家必须找到某物、离开城堡或逃离小岛等。《禁闭岛》将收集动态（找到四件宝物）和逃脱（在小岛沉没前离开）相给合。

6、对齐：在这类动态中，玩家必须把某物弄整齐。许多益智游戏使用了这种动态，即让玩家排列颜色或形状，以赢得游戏（如《宝石迷阵》）。

7、建造/养成：《模拟人生》就使用了这种动态。玩家的目标是建设某物。《我的世界》也是一个例子。

8、捕获：在捕捉类游戏中，玩家的目标是捕获原本属于对手的某物。西洋棋的动态就是吃掉对手的棋子。许多游戏中的“夺棋模式”其实就是夺取敌对团队的“旗子”。

当制作学习型游戏时，你应该思考：

1、游戏的“乐趣”部分是由玩家对你所选择的动态的沉浸程度决定的。当你正在制作初始原型时，你要问你自己：“如果我把游戏的动态从X改成Y，游戏会发生什么变化？”（如，从竞速改成捕获）然后尝试一下再看看发生什么变化。

2、有时候动态会与学习目标相同。思考一下你的项目是否存在这种情况，并把动态调整到合理。例如，我们做一款游戏，给玩家的挑战是，要求他在项目受时间、资金和管理机构要求限制的情况下，始终按公司价值观办事（良好的沟通、职业道德、团队协作等）。在此我们使用了两个主要动态：竞速（玩家要在给定的时间内完成游戏）和构建/养成（玩家必须建设一个符合特定要求的项目）。这些动态确实与他们的真实目标一致，都是在有限的时间下开发一件产品。

总结

确保你能分辨游戏目标和学习目标。熟悉大量不同的游戏动态，并思考如何把不同的动态结合到你的学习游戏中。混合使用若干种动态作为实验。看看当你完全改变一种动态时游戏会发生什么变化。

在下一篇文章中，我将继续解释第二个步骤，但重点将转向游戏机制和游戏元素。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Learning Game Design Series, Part 2: Game Goals and Game Dynamics

by Sharon Bollergame

Last week I talked about Step 1 – Play Games. This week I move on to Part 2 of my multi-part series titled “Getting Started in Learning Game Design.” Here’s a quick review of the 5-step process.

This post (along with the next few) will focus on Step 2:  Get Familiar with Game Terminology and Elements and How to Use Them. Before you can design a good game you need to be able to craft game goals, select game dynamics, create strong game mechanics, and choose appropriate game elements.  Today, I’ll focus on two things: game goals and game dynamics—and how they link together.

Game Goal

The game goal is a description of the object of the game. Or rather, what you need to do to win the game. These are all game goals associated with learning games we’ve created:

Earn topic mastery across all topics and become a Knowledge Guru.

Achieve territory sales of $700K and maximize customer satisfaction.

Build and test a bridge that meets all stated specifications within 45 minutes.

Get all players out of homelessness within 3 months’ time.

Get everyone off of the elevator in as few moves as possible. (This is a brand new one for a game we have under development now.)

What to think about when creating a learning game:

The game goal isn’t the same as a learning goal or a learning objective. For instance, in the elevator game (Goal 5 above), the learning goal is to be able to identify the tasks associated with the 5 steps of incident investigation. We’re using a game in which you have to get everyone off the elevator to help people learn tasks and steps.

If your game isn’t fun, take a look at the game goal. Is it really a game goal or just a description for how to complete a learning activity? (Match tasks and steps is an example of a learning activity.)

Game Dynamics

You need to be able to recognize and select from different game dynamics. The game dynamic can actually BE the game goal, or the means by which players achieve the goal. A game can focus on a single dynamic or combine a couple of different ones. Common game dynamics include:

Race to the finish: If you use this game dynamic in your game, then you have players competing against each other or against the game system to be the first one to finish a task, reach a destination, hit a specific target, etc. Milton Bradley’s Game of Life is a race to the finish game. MarioKart is a very literal example of a race to the finish game. It’s a common dynamic and it’s pretty easy to design games that use it.

Collection: In collection is the dynamic, then the game goal is achieved by collecting one or multiple things.  Knowledge Guru uses a collection dynamic. Players have to collect Topic Mastery badges. Once they get all of them, they become Knowledge Gurus. Trivial Pursuit is a combination of Collection and Race to the Finish: first you have to collect a set of colored chips and then you have to be the first player to make it to the center circle and correctly answer a final question.

Territory Acquisition: In this dynamic you are trying to acquire territory, land, or real estate. Risk is a classic example of this type of game. Monopology is a game that combines Territory Acquisition and Collection dynamics together.

Solve: Games that use this dynamic require players to solve puzzles or problems. Players are trying to figure something out. The board game Clue uses the Solve dynamic. Adventure-style games (such as Machinarium) use this dynamic as well.

Rescue or escape: This dynamic is used a lot in adventure games where you have to get to a treasure and then get out of a castle, off an island, etc. Forbidden Island combines collection (getting four treasures) with escape—get off the island before it sinks.

Alignment: In this dynamic, you have to get things in order. Many puzzle games use this dynamic by having you get all colors or shapes in a certain order to win the game (think Bejeweled).
Construct/Build: the game of Sims uses this dynamic. Your goal is to build things. Minecraft also uses this dynamic.

Capture: your goal in Capture games is to capture something that belongs to your opponent. Checkers is about capturing your opponent’s checkers. Capture the Flag is literally about capturing the opposing team’s flag.

What to think about when creating a learning game:

The game’s “fun” is partly dictated by how engaging the players find the dynamic you’ve selected. When you are creating initial prototypes ask yourself, “How would the game change if I changed the dynamic from X to Y?” (e.g. from Race to the Finish to Capture)? Then try it and see what happens.

Sometimes a dynamic will logically align with a learning goal. Think about whether this may be true for your project and leverage dynamics that make sense. Example: we did a game designed to focus learners on the challenges of applying company values (excellent communication, ethics, teamwork, etc) within the constraints of a project where time, money, and regulatory requirements had to be managed. We used two major dynamics in this game: Race to the Finish (People had a specific amount of time in which to complete the game) and Construct/Build (They had to build an object that conformed to specified requirements). These dynamics definitely aligned with their real world environment where they worked under time constraints and they were developing a product.

Summary

Make sure you distinguish between game goals and learning goals. Get familiar with plenty of different game dynamics, and think about how you can incorporate different dynamics into your learning games. Experiment with blending a couple of dynamics together. Find out what happens if you change a dynamic entirely.

Next week I’ll stay on Step 2 but shift my focus to game mechanics and game elements.(source:thenowledgeguru)