The document discusses the challenges of creating effective educational games that truly teach students. It notes that while games are good at engaging and motivating students, most games do not actually teach in a valid way. The document outlines some of the key elements needed for a teaching game, including being a valid assessment, providing scaffolding for students, and incorporating multiple representations of concepts. It then discusses one game called Mars Generation One: Argubot Academy that was created to teach argumentation skills and how it incorporated design elements like precise assessments, masterable complexity, and an emotional journey to transform students' thinking. However, it notes a challenge is the significant resources needed to create such teaching games at scale.

1. W H Y W E
C A N ’ T H AV E
N I C E T H I N G S
( Y E T )
E F F E C T I V E
G A M E S :
E R I N H O F F M A N , S E R I O U S P L AY 2 0 1 6

2. C H A S I N G T H E F U T U R E
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Edtech Investment
Social Game Revenue
F2P US Revenue
Worldwide MMO Revenue
growth*
text MMO
f2p virtual world
facebook game
(“sushi war”)
social-mobile
edugames
I was working on:
*$millions
it’s true because it has a chart

3. 1 9 9 8 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 8 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4
(I was 17) (you do the
math)

4. I N 2 0 1 3 , A F U N N Y
T H I N G H A P P E N E D
T O M E
• I was taken in by scientists.
• 24 scientists, to be exact,
from the likes of the
Stanford Research
Institute, NASA, and
Educational Testing
Service (the folk who make
the SAT).
• these are nerds among
nerds.

5. – S O R E N K I E R K E G A A R D , 1 8 4 8
“To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.
Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from
the learner,
put yourself in his place so that you may understand
what he understands and the way he understands it.”

6. – S O R E N K I E R K E G A A R D , 1 8 4 8
“To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.
Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from
the learner,
put yourself in his place so that you may understand
what he understands and the way he understands it.”
“Teaching well is really freaking hard.”
– E R I N H O F F M A N , 2 0 1 5

7. A S Y O U M I G H T
I M A G I N E
• game designers spend an
awful lot of time talking about
what “fun” is
• the most widely-accepted
definition comes from a game
designer named Raph Koster
(you might recognize Star
Wars Galaxies, EverQuest II,
Ultima Online - that’s Raph)
• though now he might be
more well known for his book:

8. – R A P H K O S T E R
“That’s what games are, in the end. Teachers.
Fun is just another word for learning.”
And Raph said…
• this hit the world of game design like a
bomb — it was so obvious and true

9. world model
space whales
*
worldmodel
spacewhales
*
game design early child psych

10. But Raph was riffing off the work of a lot of smart people…

11. Leading to what I call the “depth hierarchy of nerddom” on fun:
Jesse Schell - “fun isn’t important”
Raph Koster - “fun is learning”
James Paul Gee - “fun is the scientific method”
Fred Rogers* - “play is the work of childhood”
Jean Piaget - “play is assimilation without adaptation”
(3 kinds of play: practice, symbolic, rules-based)
Lev Vygotsky - “play is a self-actualizing tool of the mind
that maximizes the zone of proximal development”
(some neuroscientist, maybe Judy Willis**)
** http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/4141/the-neuroscience-joyful-education-judy-willis-md.pdf
image by G. Blackney, middle school earth sciences
* you could maybe stick Csikszentmihalyi*** here but I like Mr. Rogers better because it’s easier to type
*** but for the record I just wanted to prove that I could spell Csikszentmihalyi

12. T H E R E V O L U T I O N A RY
I D E A B E H I N D
G L A S S L A B WA S
• school is really, really boring.
• maybe video game designers
could make school less boring.
• if kids are less bored, maybe they’ll
learn better.
• and maybe big data could enable
the creation of genuine adaptive,
personalized learning.

13. No problem!, we thought.
If games are about fun and fun is about learning,
this’ll be easy!
Time to revolutionize education!

14. so we brought the brand new SimCity
into classrooms…
and the kids said:
so this is pretty fun,
but we’re not learning anything.
(and SimCity historically has been used by
teachers to teach all sorts of things)

15. This blew open Raph’s theory.
“Fun is learning” wasn’t the conclusive epiphany
we (designers) thought it was — it was just the
beginning.

16. Over the course of the next two years and three products,
I got to watch tons of breathtakingly talented teachers in
action.
teaches environmental
science and systems
thinking
2013
in collaboration with NASA
and the National Writing
Project, teaches
argumentation
2014
in collaboration with the
teachers of Epic charter
school, teaches proportional
reasoning
2015

17. when students were really engaged in learning,
there was something going on that wasn’t “fun”.
it was something deeper,
something special.
(real kids playing our real games)

18. W H AT G A M E S
D O
• create situated context
(Jim Gee)
• prepare for future learning
(Dan Schwartz)
• inspire and engage (every
teacher & parent
everywhere)
• accommodate alternative
learning modalities

19. W H AT M O S T
G A M E S D O N ’ T
D O
• teach

20. W H AT M O S T
G A M E S D O N ’ T
D O
• teach
why?
(kind of funny, isn’t it?)

21. – S O R E N K I E R K E G A A R D , 1 8 4 8
“To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.
Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from
the learner,
put yourself in his place so that you may understand
what he understands and the way he understands it.”
“Teaching well is really freaking hard.”
– E R I N H O F F M A N , 2 0 1 5

22. W H AT D O E S A
T E A C H I N G G A M E
N E E D T O D O ?
• it has to be a valid
assessment
• it has to be scaffolded
• it has to have multiple
representations

23. T H E A S S E S S M E N T
M O N S T E R
• most games do have
assessments (that’s what a
boss battle is)
• but they’re rarely valid
according to a learning
standard
• validity means correctness is
inescapable and blocks
progression - it means
you’re measured from every
angle

24. S C A F F O L D I N G
• most games do have
scaffolding (that’s what levels
are)
• most games even scaffold
you toward assessment (levels
prepare you for bosses)
• but few learning games are
properly scaffolded
• * actually, arguably, few
games are properly
scaffolded

25. M U LT I P L E
R E P R E S E N TAT I O N S
• and almost no learning
games have multiple
representations - I think (it’s
just too damn expensive)
• multiple representation
might be a big part of why
minecraft is so effective and
engaging
• immersive semi-reality is the
closest we’ve gotten to true
multiple rep

26. how we began with design thinking and turned
mars generation one into a valid assessment

27. W E B E G A N W I T H
PA I N P O I N T S
• Your starting point is
probably your user’s pain
point.
• Don’t run from the pain
point, and don’t assume
you’ll erase it immediately;
to be fulfilled, it must be
embraced.
• …even amplified.
• In a game, pain is challenge,
and challenge is good.

28. PA I N I N
A R G U M E N TAT I O N
• When we began Mars
Generation One: Argubot
Academy, we set out to
identify pain in argumentation.
• When you’re bad at arguing,
you feel:
• confused
• powerless
• unpopular
• stupid

29. • confused
• powerless
• unpopular
• stupid
• clear
• powerful
• charismatic
• genius
so we knew we needed to bring about this emotional transition:
our message was: learn to argue well, using evidence, and you’ll become
convincing, popular, admired, and powerful

30. E M O T I O N A L
C L U S T E R I N G
• We began by digging
deeper into the pain point
analysis.
• After many interviews with
teachers, the same problems
emerged between
instructors and students.
• These qualities created the
dominant emotional reaction
of confusion.
VA G U E
aspects of argumentation
S U B J E C T I V E
A B S T R A C T
H A R D T O
R E M E M B E R
C O M P L E X

31. VA G U E
S U B J E C T I V E
A B S T R A C T
H A R D T O
R E M E M B E R
C O M P L E X
so we took these qualities and searched for game
experiences that were the opposite
P R E C I S E
O B J E C T I V E
C O N C R E T E
M A S T E R A B L E
S I M P L E

32. P R E C I S E O B J E C T I V E C O N C R E T EM E M O R A B L E S I M P L E
it turns out that these are feelings that games innately convey
particularly well

33. So we applied a concrete system that scaffolded into great complexity
(otherwise it wouldn’t ever really feel like argumentation) but was
masterable and simple. Aka…

34. G O T TA C AT C H
‘ E M A L L
• Pokemon is an incredibly
complex game involving
constant computation,
comparison, and
memorization.
• Kids love it anyway because it’s
so concrete and memorable.
• So the important thing to
remove from argumentation
wasn’t the complexity, but the
abstractness and subjectivity.

35. Our “argubots” paralleled forms of argument, but made them
visually memorable, masterable, and full of personality.

36. T H E R E S U LT S
• Well, ask the kids:
• “BOOM!”
• “wait wait wait we want to hear this!”
• “that’s TOTALLY not related!”
• “that [argument] wasn’t even, like, legit!”
• “omg, K-O!”
• “data was inconsistent, it wasn’t supporting”
• “fiiiiiiight!”
• “let’s go CQ!*”
This approach to argumentation was:
• concrete
• exciting
• masterable
• relatable
* a 6th grader referencing philosopher Stephen Toulmin

37. by taking them from one painful side of the
emotional map to the other, we changed the way
they thought about argumentation and reason
curiosity
anxiety
threat
stress
failure
tenacity
surprise mastery
insight
abstract
confused
afraid
can’t
remember getting it
got it
winning

38. contrast this with the emotionally flat way
argumentation is traditionally taught
it’s not memorable because there’s no surprise, no
discovery, no choice, no tension, no reversal

39. we took them on an emotional journey - this is how
transformation happens
fear surprise
contempt
happiness
anger
disgust
sadness

40. but what about the competency?

41. T H AT T I M E W E T R I E D T O A S S E S S
S I M C I T Y

42. I T WA S A B O U T T H E C O R E L O O P
• core loop based on a deliberate
competency
• competency mapped to interaction
mechanic
• an abstract idea made mechanical

43. T U R N I N G I T
U P S I D E D O W N
• original IP: pokemon
robots on mars
• made with NASA and the
national writing project
• attacking argumentation
competency

44. Argumentation Skill
(LP level)
Identify Organize Use Evaluate
Match data to
related argument
Arrange arg with multiple
pieces of data
Use a critical
question
Evaluate opposing argument
weakness
Identify data as
pro/com
Mars Generation One:
Argubot Academy
Explore Equip Battle
Chat with
characters
Click on
objects
Attach data fuel
to claim core
Launch irrelevant
core attack
select bot
type
Choose shield
Launch critical
attack
Take/leave
evidence
Organize argument with
multiple arg schemes
a new kind of game design

45. A N D D I D I T W O R K ?

46. A N D D I D I T W O R K ? (it super did)

47. B U T W H AT
A B O U T T H E R E Q S
• it has to be a valid
assessment = A
• it has to be scaffolded =
= B-
• it has to have multiple
representations = C-

48. T H E R E A L
P R O B L E M
• (I’m not sure I should tell
you this)
• MGO took us about 1.5
years and $2m*
• (which for what it did and
the ice it broke really wasn’t
bad, especially in game
terms)
• but this kind of money isn’t
in the learning game system
* please don’t quote me

49. T H E R E A L
P R O B L E M
• (this was why Ratio
Rancher was a big step
forward - we built it with
half the staff and in 6
months - better, stronger,
faster)
* please don’t quote me

50. H E R E ’ S W H Y I T
( S H O U L D B E ) T H E
F U T U R E
• games that actually teach may be the only
way to achieve globally scalable education

51. H E R E ’ S W H Y I T
( S H O U L D B E ) T H E
F U T U R E
• games that actually teach may be the only
way to achieve globally scalable education
this was glasslab’s actual mission

52. T H A N K S F O R
P L AY I N G
T H A T ’ S I T
erin@makingwonder.com
@gryphoness

53. appendix

54. usually that emotion is pretty simple
(simple emotion sell$)
scary!
omg fast!
BAD.ASS.
epic!

55. …but sometimes it’s not
the regret of well-intended
complicity in abusive
systems
the existential loneliness of being
human and confronted with the
other in the wake of ancient
hubris-generated apocalypse
(probs the greatest game ever made just fyi)
(e.g., while you weren’t looking, games kinda grew up)

56. this was an emotion I’d never seen before.
I became obsessed with it.
remember when I said game designers are artists?
and artists are painters of emotion?

57. E M O T I O N
S O L E T ’ S TA L K A B O U T

58. pop quiz
how many of you know who paul eckman is?

59. pop quiz
how many of you have seen pixar’s Inside Out?

60. if you’ve seen Inside Out, you know Eckman
• took photographs of faces around the world
• asked thousands of people from dozens of cultures to identify the emotions
• identified seven (at first six) universal emotions

61. (the new one)
the one it drives me
nuts that they cut
out!

62. (the new one)
the one it drives me
nuts that they cut
out!
but where’s ‘fun’?
and where’s ‘learning’?

63. it seemed to be a little bit of all of them, each in a different order…
sometimes… for 14 year olds… kind of?… definitely…
actually yeah… this one too… getting closer…

64. it seemed to be a little bit of all of them, each in a different order…
sometimes… for 14 year olds… kind of?… definitely…
actually yeah… this one too… getting closer…
fun/learning wasn’t one emotion, but a process between many.

65. I called it sophia*:
fun is the cognitive mechanical process
by which we convert fear into happiness
through surprise
* as in “philein sophia” or “philosophy” - the love (philo-) of wisdom (-soph)

66. M I C R O B E S
S O L E T ’ S TA L K A B O U T

67. how many live in
your body?

68. how many live in
your body?
let’s talk microbes!
- over 100 trillion microbes
(about 2-6lbs per person)
- microbes outnumber human
cells 10:1
- 1000 species in your gut
- 200 species on the surface of
your eye
- tons still unidentified
- scientists call it “the second
genome”

69. how many live in
your body?
let’s talk microbes!
- over 100 trillion microbes
(about 2-6lbs per person)
- microbes outnumber human
cells 10:1
- 1000 species in your gut
- 200 species on the surface of
your eye
- tons still unidentified
- scientists call it “the second
genome”
how you doin'?

70. your microbiome
= ~100 trillion
microbes
the milky way
= ~100 billion
stars

71. the second genome

72. the second genome

73. how many live in
your body?
let’s talk microbes!
- over 100 trillion microbes
(about 2-6lbs per person)
- microbes outnumber human
cells 10:1
- 1000 species in your gut
- 200 species on the surface of
your eye
- tons still unidentified
- scientists call it “the second
genome”
how you doin’ (now)?

74. I called it sophia*:
fun is the cognitive mechanical process
by which we convert fear into happiness
through surprise
* as in “philein sophia” or “philosophy” - the love (philo-) of wisdom (-soph)

75. the key is the arc
curiosity
anxiety
threat
stress
failure
tenacity
surprise
mastery
insight

76. S T O RY T E L L E R S
K N O W T H I S
• without foreshadowing
there is no anticipation
• without anticipation there’s
no tension
• without reversal there’s no
insight
• without insight there’s no
story

77. (segue)
And this is why it’s so damn annoying that Inside Out
left out Surprise.
when it comes to Eckman universals and both storytelling and product,
Surprise might be the most important emotion there is.

78. M O D E R N M E T H O D S
O F M E A S U R I N G
E M O T I O N I N C L U D E :
• surveys
• brain fMRIs that detect…
“excitation” (aka
something is happening
and we don’t really know
what)
• hand-encoding videos of
changes in facial expression
• …surveys

79. emotional research is really this gigantic
unexplored frontier now that we have the capability
to process dynamic data

80. H O W W O U L D Y O U C R E AT E A N A R C , I N C L U D I N G R E V E R S A L
A N D I N S I G H T, F O R T H E C O R E E M O T I O N I N Y O U R
P R O D U C T ?
let us pause

81. D Y N A M I C E M O T I O N
S O L E T ’ S TA L K A B O U T

82. A L L E M O T I O N
I S D Y N A M I C
T H E T R U T H I S

83. W E ’ R E R E A L LY B A D
AT M E A S U R I N G
D Y N A M I C T H I N G S
T H E O T H E R T R U T H I S

84. so let’s assume emotion is a landscape, not a fixed
point in time; it’s a dynamic system that has things
like hysteresis and momentum
fear surprise
contempt
happiness
anger
disgust
sadness

85. if we were to design for a specific progression, what
would it look like?
fear surprise
contempt
happiness
anger
disgust
sadness

86. F I N A L
Q U E S T I O N S
• Where are your moments of surprise?
• Where are you showing your user
that you really understand their pain?
• Where are your transition points
between pain and ecstasy?
• Where are your users discovering
insights for themselves?
• What is your unique core emotion
and how are you centering your
design decisions on it?
• What is the emotional path for each
of your user archetypes?

87. T H A N K S F O R
P L AY I N G
T H A T ’ S I T
erin@makingwonder.com
@gryphoness

89. lately, this has become the context for some genuinely awful behavior

90. and remember that emotions hybridize