Dig Deeper with
Engagement Games
A presentation deck for training educators on
the Project MASH engagement games
process, from the Engagement Lab.
Half day version
Quick Play: RoShamBo
TIME 15 minutes
Modification of existing game elements is a common
strategy for creating new games.
Most of us know the game, “Rock, Paper, Scissors.”
1. Work in groups of 3-5 to mod the game to make it
more fun. For example, you could change the
rules, or the kinds of actions players take, the
theme (e.g., using aliens, bombs, or magic spells
instead of rock/paper/scissors).
2. Play another group’s mod.
Today’s explorations
1. Introduction to engagement games (15
min.)
2. Play & Games (60 min.)
3. Games and Civic Learning (120 min)
4. Academic Connections, Resources (45 min)
What is play?
Play is activity in which means are more
valued than ends.
Play is non-literal, imaginative, marked off in
some way from reality (aka magic circle).
Play & Games
And for children, the distinction
between play and “real life” can be
blurry or change on a whim.
Games structure the “magic circle” of play
with goals and guidelines for action.
Games help us harness the power of play
to:
• Foster learning and empathy (which
are necessary to develop strategy)
• Build social norms (i.e., competition
and cooperation)
Uncertainty and suspense
are built into the game’s structure.
Escalating challenges and clear
feedback
focus attention,
support reflection,
and build meaning.
Elements of a game
Objective and feedback: What does it mean to win?
How to players evaluate their progress?
Actions/mechanics: What actions can players take,
and how does this move the game forward? What
are the obstacles?
Clear rules/boundaries: What are the limits on
player choice? What games are/are not allowed?
...and room to play: uncertainty, choice, strategy and
interaction
Ready to create your own
game?
Explore engagement games with an activity
from Project MASH.
Race to the End
An Engagement Games Activity from Project MASH
Many games, both board games and physical games,
involve a race to the end.
Players are confronted with certain obstacles and given
constraints about how they can move forward, and then the
race is on!
In this activity you’ll create your own Race to the End
game.
Define
 Your game board (space as small as a piece of paper or
as large as the room)
 Theme: What is your game about?
 Objective and feedback: What does it mean to win?
How do players evaluate their progress?
 Actions/mechanics: What actions can players take, and
how does this move the game forward? What are the
obstacles?
 Clear rules/boundaries: What are the limits on player
choice? What games are/are not allowed?
 Name of your game
Create It!
TIME 25 min
Step 1: Create your game.
Step 3: Play-test it.
Step 4: Write a description of your game so others can
play:
 What is the goal? How do you win? What are player
actions, a.k.a. mechanics? What rules guide these
actions?
Project Share: Play!
TIME 10 minutes
Each group plays the game created by
another group.
Reflection & Discussion
TIME
5 minutes
Consider your group’s design and the other
group’s design:
 What elements of each worked for you?
 What would you like to change?
Students and teachers can learn even more
by modding and playing games specifically
designed to promote academic and civic
understanding.
Games & Civic Learning
There are a number of ways in which games or
game-like systems have been applied to the
goals of academic and civic learning.
 Gamification
 Games that model real-world systems
 Games for civic engagement
Gamification
Gamification is about using
rewards to motivate behavior. It’s
efficient when you already know
exactly what you want people to
do.
Some games for school are
focused on fluency and practice,
so they gamify traditional
academic activities.
For example, First in Math uses
fun graphics and the challenge
of time limits to incentivize
developing math fluency.
Limits of gamification
When the behaviors are all
predefined, there isn’t much
room for uncertainty, choice,
strategy, and play.
In other words, the gamified
system does not provide
room to play.
Games that model real-world systems:
 Present players with multiple goals,
tradeoffs, and uncertainty; and
 Teach the workings of the system
through play
Games that model real-world systems
Democracy 3 is a governing strategy game. You play as
the president of a western industrialized nation and face
problems such as crime, unemployment, national debt,
terrorism, and climate change.
Games for civic learning help players develop skills in:
 understanding conflicting needs and different perspectives; and
 collaborative problem-solving and decision-making
Like games that model systems, civic learning
games provide plenty of room to play.
Ready to play & mod a
game for civic participation?
Explore engagement games with an
activity from Project MASH.
@Stake
An Engagement Games Activity from Project MASH
Propose solutions to local problems.
Satisfy your agenda.
Win the vote!
@Stake is a paper-based game designed to spark civic
process around local problems or challenges.
Players are presented with a new challenge scenario.
They propose solutions and then vote to determine which
solution appeals to the most players.
@Stake
At the beginning of each round, each player is assigned a new
stakeholder card (student, teacher, parent, administrator, or
community member). Each stakeholder has a different agenda.
Players propose solutions to the challenge scenarios based on
the agenda of their stakeholder.
Details at projectmash.org. Search for “@Stake.”
@Stake
When you play the game with your
students, colleagues, and other
school community members, you
can create new scenarios and
stakeholder roles. Scenarios can be
as short as a single sentence
questions, i.e., “How do we support
development of the whole child?”
The purpose is to spark conversation
and explore an issue from multiple
perspectives within the safety of the
“magic circle.”
@Stake
TIME 40 min
Step 1: Split into groups of 3-5
Step 2: Each group draws a scenario card.
(Ideally, groups will end up with different scenario
cards.)
Step 3: Each player draws a stakeholder card.
Step 4: Each group plays 3-4 rounds of the game. For
each round, players draw new stakeholder cards, and
the group draws a new scenario card.
Share & Reflect
TIME 5 minutes
What kind of impact do you envision this game having
 On students’ learning of core
content;
 On relationships and culture
at the classroom level, school
level, and within the greater
school community?
So far, you’ve experienced a range of games and
mechanics, and a few different learning goals.
Now, it’s time to create your own learning game,
from scratch.
Added Value
An Engagement Games Activity from Project MASH
TIME 40 minutes
1. Each group chooses a different one of the following
values/emotions:
Friendship, cooperation, jealousy, individuality, commitment,
sensitivity, democracy
2. Design the game’s goal, mechanics, and rules to help players
practice and explore the value/emotion that your group chose.
3. Each group plays its own game.
4. Each group plays one other group’s game.
*If you’re stuck see the next slide for suggestions of common,
simple games to mod…
32
Some simple examples include:
 Simon Says,
 Monkey in Middle,
 Tag,
 Checkers, and
 Candyland.
You can also try common sports, but it’s best to use a
game that doesn‘t require additional space or equipment
and can be played during the workshop.
33
Common Core Connections
TIME 40 minutes
What connections do you see between game
design and the skills identified in the Common
Core State Standards?
What connections do you see between game
design and the knowledge foci supported by
the Common Core State Standards?
Some grade-level content connections include…
Math: Modeling, e.g., the probability of a certain outcome,
the path of the basketball
Science: “The science behind it,” e.g., why we get tired
when we run, what materials hold up well during play, the
workings of the terrain or climate
Language Arts: Write about the game, the design process,
or the play process.
Social Studies: Understand group dynamics throughout the
design process, draw connections to historical or
contemporary social processes
Engagement games offer an approach to teaching
and learning that is at the heart of Project MASH, a
social network for educators, students, and the
organizations that serve them.
Visit www.projectmash.org for student activities
and projects from the Engagement Lab and others
that rely on design thinking and other unique
teaching strategies.