Explore Like a Pirate: Engage, Enrich, and Elevate Your Learners with Gamification and Game-inspired Course Design by Michael Matera

Author:Michael Matera [Matera, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc
Published: 2015-12-11T18:30:00+00:00

Skills

Explanation

Skills are characteristics of players that can grow through gameplay.

Pros

• Fulfills status, access, and power of SAPS theory

• Creates meaningful game choices for students

Cons

• Can create imbalance in the game if all skills are not equally powerful

Uses and Ideas

Skills are foundational to many games. The game Diablo, for example, asks players to make a major decision right from the load screen. Players have to select a character class before they embark on the epic 100+ hour adventure that is the game. The choices are barbarian, wizard, and monk. Each of these characters comes with special benefits that only they can earn or unlock, as they gain experience and level up. Once the player selects his or her character class, there is no changing it; it represents the player for the entirety of the game and determines what he or she can do.

If you don’t like the idea of using items in your game, skills are another great way to go. Skills and items can also be used together to create a rich learning environment. Skills, though more challenging to create, are in many ways easier to manage. Character skills are a “cool” addition to any game, as they provide reasons for students to collaborate in teams that benefit one another.

A word of caution: In my opinion, it can be incredibly hard to make a skills chart for your first game. Each of the character types needs to be balanced and worth choosing. You won’t be able to adjust the character classes once you start, as students can’t switch; they will protest if they determine their choice would have been different had they known what the abilities would become.

An educational resource that uses skills really well is Classcraft.com In this game, each of the characters has abilities that can help each member of the group. Students should be encouraged naturally by the game to make sure they have a player representing each skill type.

By having different types of players, you are creating a collaborative experience for your students and an opportunity for them to be proud of the leveling up of their character.

For those of you struggling with the difference between items and skills, there is little to none. Take the spear item we looked at before, which has the power to skip a team’s turn during a review game. In a skills-based game, this power is earned by leveling up one’s character type. I have toyed with the idea of making a power up chart for each of my classes that students can select from and create unique classroom powers as their house total XP increases. Again, the chief concern is making sure the characters are balanced.

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