Time for:
- Prepare: 10-20 min
- Implementation: 30 min
Type(s) of Essential(s):
![social and emotional growth icon](images/icon-SE-growth-sm2.png)
Social & Emotional Growth
![critical review icon](images/icon-critical-review-sm2.png)
Critical Review
Prerequisite:
- Is a prerequisite: Yes
- Has a prerequisite: Yes
Overview
Learners play and evaluate games based on categories used by game developers.
Goals and Outcomes
Goal: Learners acquire game design vocabulary, identify categories they apply when reviewing games, and enhance their critical media review skills.
Outcomes: Learners enhance their knowledge and skills of reviewing games and forms of digital media and can articulate their evaluations to an audience.
Materials
Game Evaluation sheet or create their own; Optional: presentation software and digital tool
Preparation
Prerequisite: Activities to complete before this activity - Guided Gameplay of Serious Games.
Duplicates of Game Evaluation sheet (enough for each learner)
Implementation and Completion
After completing Guided Gameplay of Serious Games, inform learners game designers talk about and evaluate the games they play. This means game developers play many games, think about gameplay, identify what they liked and not liked, and recommend game changes. Tell learners they will evaluate a game based on a set of questions that developers may use when reviewing games.
Recommend learners choose a game from the Guided Gameplay of Serious Games activity. Learners will take at least 20 minutes or longer to evaluate a game and share their review. Learners can use presentation software to capture their review. Encourage them to play the game as they evaluate it because it may make answering questions in the categories easier.
After the learners have evaluated the game(s), have them present their review to the group. They can present their review in different ways: post reviews on an online tool like Padlet, presentation software, reading their completed game review sheets, etc.