Gamestar Mechanic

Project history

Initial development of Gamestar was supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation based on a grant proposal authored by James Paul Gee and Eric Zimmerman. Initial design and development of the game was by Gamelab in partnership with Katie Salen, The Institute of Play and the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab (AADLC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The game was released commercially in the Fall of 2010 and is currently supported by a partnership between educational game publisher E-Line Media and the Institute of Play.

Audience and game play

The game is optimized for youth ages 8–14. Players learn the principles of game design by playing a narrative-based Quest where they play, repair and build games using the in-game design tools. As they advance in the Quest, players also earn "sprites" (characters, avatars, enemies, etc...) for use in their own games. At any time, players can switch to their Workshops and make an original game using the assets they have earned. Players can publish their games to an online community within the platform called Game Alley where other users can play and leave feedback on their games.

Playing on the website is free of charge, but there are premium options available for both consumer and educational use.

An online learning program is also offered in which students can take an online course in game design with an instructor and receive video feedback on their designs from professionals in the game industry.

Sprites

Sprites are all of the things that you can unlock and use in your games. Most sprites, you can earn from the quests "Addison Joins the League", "Addison Joins the Rogue", and "Dungeon of the Rogue". The other sprites you can get are from the Challenges. The Pink Block Caper, and the Background Challenge are some. Some Challenges are temporary, but once you win the sprites from them, you keep them forever. The Wild West challenge is one. The final way to get some is from the sprite packs that you can buy in the store. The Freezer pack and the Autumn pack are examples. If you have completed all of these tasks completely, Congratulations! You now have every sprite there is! Whenever a temporary Challenge ends a new one usually comes up. Most sprites are either Avatars, Enemies, Blocks, Items, or Systems. But some of them are backgrounds and music!

Usage

As of March 2014, the game has been used to create over 500,000 games that have been played over 15 million times. Over 6,000 schools and community organizations have adopted the platform.

Awards

Gamestar has won numerous awards for excellence in educational technology and children's media including