Written by Sarah, the Community Ambassador at the Champaign Public Library
Game Design has become very dear to a few of the kids at Champaign. A dedicated trio has formed, and their interest in game design led them both to attend workshops on other topics and to try new lessons. I was pleasantly surprised when two of them downloaded the free version on their home computers and worked on games there, and told me what they’d learned. We’re at a standstill due to our computers needing to be reformatted again (so that we can install the full version, as the kids have surpassed the free version already), but the kids are eager to continue and often ask when the computers will be ready.
I first became interested in this particular software a few years back, when I became aware of a fan-made Sailor Uranus & Neptune game that was very popular online. As I read the ongoing forum posts by the creator as they went through the creation process, I was in sheer awe of the amount of work that went into it. When I realized it was created using a game design software, I decided to keep my eye on it.
At Champaign Public Library, computer games are extremely popular. It is often a source of contention with behavior issues. So game design is an ideal way to begin to reach the kids. As I’ve told others before, it introduces kids to the basics of coding without being boring. I’m not a huge fan of many current methods that attempt to teach kids to code the “fun” way, as they seem ephemeral, the type of thing that gets old quite quickly (I’m also terribly influenced by graphics, so they strike me as visually unappealing as well). They are too lesson-based. It is not tempting to my audience at Champaign: middle-schoolers just finishing a day of school, perhaps wanting to put off doing homework, and beginning to feel that certain childish things are beneath them and recognize when they are being talked down to.
In comparison, RPG Maker allows them to build up and create an end product that they are invested in. In a way, it is like playing a game. A game does not lead you with lessons the entire way, always emphasizing that you are here to learn and get tested. You get a short introduction tutorial, and then you learn and progress through exploration and experimentation. RPG Maker is learn as you go or as needed, and the full arsenal of tools is there from the beginning. They don’t have to approach it a certain way or follow a certain timeline to progress. Its not a software designed “FOR KIDS TO LEARN,” but rather a program designed and used by professionals. The kids can look on Steam and see other independent creators selling the games they made with RPG Maker. The kids get to be the creators, the ones in charge, and make what they want. There is also a nostalgia factor; they have told me the RPG Maker format reminds them of the Pokemon and Zelda games they played. Its not a belittling mode of learning, and I’ve told them often that they have learned faster and more than the adults I’ve given lessons to.
RPG Maker gets kids used to telling a computer what to do. They have to think through the different steps of the process, break down what they want to happen, and feed it to the computer in a language it understands. They have to start thinking of “how” something happens. While the code of RPG Maker isn’t the same code they may use in other programming, it maintains the use of if/then, conditionals, and loops, which form coding’s foundation. I compare it to learning a language; once you’ve learned a second language, it makes it easier to learn another, even though they are different. In my opinion, this makes it easier to later learn other types of coding, as the foundation is already there.
There is also an element of problem-solving involved. Creating a game (and writing code) requires debugging. You often have to play through a part several times to figure out what is going wrong when, and how to fix it. The kids have learned how community can help. They teach each other tricks they’ve learned, and can recognize when one of them is making the same mistake they were earlier. They have also seen what the online community can help with, and I’ve even seen one of them watching tutorials on how to use variables in the program. In fact, one of the reasons I don’t have a set curriculum or lesson for RPG Maker beyond the basics is because I tried to emphasize this problem solving. I knew that more than likely they would run into issues I hadn’t covered, or want to design things I hadn’t predicted. I wanted the kids to know that there are entire communities online using RPG Maker, and that if they had a problem, chances are someone else has had the same problem. I didn’t want to stifle their ideas by promoting a certain way to design as the way to do it.
Overall, I think RPG Maker has been a very successful tool at Champaign Public Library. The kids look forward to being able to use the full version, and I can’t wait to see what they make.
To see some of the game designs from the students at Champaign Public, check out this PDF: Game Design Files.
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