Game Studies and Game-Based Learning Resources

These are resources I recommend you check out as you continue to explore critical explorations of games and play as well as game-based learning. There's a lot here, and it's quite varied, so let me know if you want help narrowing it down. For me, Gee is the "must read" of the list for designing a course that incorporates games or game mechanics.

• Bogost, Ian. How to Do Things with Videogames. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. Print.
• ---. Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. Print.
• Bogost, Ian, Simon Ferrari, and Bobby Schweizer. Newsgames Journalism at Play. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2010. Open WorldCat. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
• Flanagan, Mary. Critical Play: Radical Game Design. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2009. Print.
• Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy. Rev. and updated ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print.
• Kahne, Joseph, Ellen Middaugh, and Chris Evans. The Civic Potential of Video Games. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2009. Print.
• McGonigal, Jane. Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. New York: Penguin Press, 2011. Print.
• Tekinbaş, Katie Salen. The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2008. Print.

Those are all good starting points. If you want to go deeper into a certain application let me know. There's been a lot written on the game Civilization, for example, as well as Minecraft.

And here are some good lists of "serious games" that try to persuade players through game mechanics.

• http://www.missiontolearn.com/learning-games-for-change/
• https://gamesandimpact.org/games/
• http://www.gamesforchange.org/learn/game-databases/

Of course, I'm happy to meet with you individually to discuss assignments, units, or courses that you're considering adding games or game elements to improve learning outcomes for students. A few big challenges with games and game-based learning are 1) scope of what can be done given the institutional time and space we're given, 2) framing activities so students understand what it is they're doing and why before, during, and after a play session, and 3) making sure you don't unwittingly create a lot of extra work for yourself.

I hope this unit on games and game-based learning was useful for you! I look forward to seeing how you're thinking about applying games in your courses.