Introduction: Game Design and Game Development in K-12 Education: A Pathway to STEM Success and Career Opportunities

Gaming has become one of the most beloved activities among the youth with countless genres and platforms—from computers and mobile phones to handheld devices—offering diverse experiences like visual novels and battle royales. By integrating what students love into the school curriculum, educators have the unique opportunity to not only ignite students' creative passions but also equip them with valuable technical skills that are highly sought after in today's workforce. Before diving into the educational benefits, it's important to clarify the distinction between game development and game design.

What is Game Development?

Game development is the process of taking a game concept and transforming it into a playable video game. It is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of digital skills and practices that are necessary to craft a video game. In the Industry, the term usually describes the technical processes of creating a game, as opposed to the more creative factors covered by game design. This can include the use of programming languages to construct in-game mechanics, adding functionality to an artist’s work, and even implementing sound effects that will be heard in-game.

What is Game Design?

Game design is the conceptualization and creative process of creating a game, where game designers figure out exactly what they want their game to be, and how it will be played. It covers a large variety of creative skills: narrative storytelling, level design, conception of core game mechanics. These are just a few examples of the tasks a designer may undertake when designing a new game. With their work, the game developers are then able to bring their design from a set of ideas and rough prototypes to a polished final state.

What is the Difference between Game Design and Game Development?

Game Development and Game Design are two critically important aspects of making a game that go hand in hand with each other. The creative skills of game design can involve writing engaging stories, forming interesting characters, creating rough level designs from concept art, describing and making core gameplay mechanics, and more.
The technical skills of a game developer, also known in the industry as a game programmer, include the knowledge and use of programming languages and game engines to implement the designer’s mechanics properly, adding functionality to an artist’s completed work that a player will experience.

Whilst Designers and Programmers have vastly differing skill sets, the game development process can not be done without a close collaboration between the two roles. Most designers will ask for programming support when creating their game mechanics, and without the designers, programmers could lose direction in their tasks. 

Teaching Game Development and Game Design in School

Teaching game development in high school can be an incredibly rewarding experience for both the students and the educators, however, it also presents unique challenges, from selecting the appropriate tools, to creating engaging lesson plans. To streamline this process and guarantee a high-quality learning experience, using an established curriculum will provide a comprehensive framework and resources, allowing you to focus on teaching rather than creating materials from scratch, ensuring a much smoother process. 

The Benefits of a Game Development and Game Design course in School

Increase interest in STEM

Game development is linked with many aspects of STEM principles and subjects. By introducing students to the world of game development, they will have to practice many technological and mathematical skills when working with game engines and programming. In more advanced games, even engineering can be applied through the physics simulations implemented for objects in-game. Through exercising these skills in game development, it can foster an increased appreciation and interest in STEM further down the line.

Career opportunities in the video games industry

By introducing game development courses in schools, students gain early exposure to a high-demand and well-paid industry with a large variety of different career opportunities. Apart from learning how to become a game developer or designer, the skills are easily transferable and highly desirable in other careers, such as software engineering, project management, and many more.

Fostering a collaborative environment

Game development is a highly collaborative process. It’s important that all the pieces of a game fit together to make a cohesive and enjoyable experience - students are encouraged to exercise a variety of teamwork skills to make sure that their video game is as fun as it can be. Project management, communication, and leadership skills will be developed as students come together to achieve this goal. This collaborative environment helps the students develop crucial communication, teamwork, and project management skills, and the skills are also highly sought after in academics and in many professional career choices that they may choose to pursue.

Enhancing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills

Critical thinking is an essential part of game development - what kind of person is this game for? How can the game be tailored to that demographic? Will players be engaged by the gameplay we’ve designed? These are all examples of questions that students will need to ask each other and answer with careful analysis and research. Once the planning is finished and the game is being built, problem solving skills will be very important, and the students will hone these skills as they figure out how to program the functionality of their game. No video game is perfect - bugs and glitches are sure to happen but these are perfect opportunities for learning and growth. It will be up to the students to identify the issue and work together to solve it.

Learning technical skills

Students will gain valuable skills in programming and coding as they learn useful programming languages and interact with a large variety of software. This will help them get started in the video games industry, but will also set them up with a skillset that is easily transferable to other jobs within the IT sector - software engineering, cybersecurity, UX Design, and AI engineering are a few examples of jobs that could stem from a foundation built with game development.

Getting an early head start

Introducing game development at an early stage allows students to begin acquiring invaluable technical skills in advance that will help them jumpstart their future, particularly for those considering careers in IT. This first step can assist students in discovering their passions early on and finding their place within the field, ultimately enhancing motivation, attendance, and overall engagement.

Increased engagement

Integrating game development and game design into the school curriculum significantly boosts student engagement, especially among those not engaged in traditional sports or classroom activities. The interactive and hands-on nature of game creation captivates students' interest, making learning more enjoyable and meaningful. By working on projects that align with their passions, students are more likely to stay motivated, participate actively in class, and maintain a positive attitude towards their education.

Careers in Game Development and Game Design

The world of game development is home to many different jobs and specializations. As this job sector continues to grow, so do the amount of opportunities that will become available to students as they continue to learn. 

Here are just a few of the many different positions you can find within the industry:

• Gameplay designer: Every mechanic in the gameplay itself is thought of by the gameplay designers. They are responsible for the core gameplay experience - how fast your character is, how dangerous the enemies are and how you win the game are all factors that are decided and refined by the gameplay designers.

• Gameplay programmer: Once the gameplay designers have devised an in-game mechanic, the gameplay programmer will use their technical expertise to see it function as intended. They will need to have a solid grasp on programming and their desired game engine to do this. Collaboration with the game designers is essential to ensure that the gameplay they program fits the design specification as well as possible.

• AI Programmer: Non-player characters (known as NPCs) can be a vital element to many different kinds of video games. Whenever you see a computer controlled component try to beat you in a racing game, or an enemy try to take you down in a fighting game, that is an example of an artificial intelligence programmer’s work. It is a very specialized role, entirely focused on building the logic that NPCs use to make decisions and take actions.

• UX Designer: Short for user experience, a UX designer’s job is to make sure that a game is pleasant and easy to interact with. They often work alongside system and user interface designers to make sure that a game’s heads-up display and menus are correctly displaying the information the player needs in a clear, concise and easy to understand way. They also make sure that players receive effective feedback from the game and properly understand the mechanics of the game.

• QA tester: The primary role of a QA tester, or a Quality Assurance Tester, is to discover and thoroughly report any issues they experience whilst playing the game. They look to find bugs in the game and figure out vital information about them so that the development team can fix it. This includes figuring out all the ways to reproduce the bug and identifying all the problems the bug causes. The bugs they search for can range from massive game breaking issues, to spotting tiny grammatical errors in a game’s text. QA testers typically have to familiarise themselves with some kind of software quality management system, which will be used to properly report and document their findings.

• VFX Artist: VFX stands for visual effects. Unlike graphics programmers who bring the looks of a character to life, or make the world appear exactly as the game designers want, VFX artists work on the finer details. They use digital art tools to create smaller effects such as the splashing of water, a roaring fire, or the big flash of an explosion.

• Animator: Animator's primary role is to take the in-game assets created by the 2D and 3D modeling artists and bring them to life. Utilizing a variety of different animation software, the animators will take the assets and add movement to them, often using a designer’s storyboard.

Unlock Potential Through Game Development and Game Design in Education

In conclusion, integrating game development courses into high school curricula offers significant benefits by bridging technical skills with creative problem-solving. It not only cultivates students' interest in STEM and prepares them for diverse career opportunities but also fosters collaboration and critical thinking. By providing early exposure to game development, schools can equip students with valuable skills, inspire future careers in technology, and enhance their overall engagement in learning. This holistic approach ensures that students are well-prepared for the evolving demands of the digital age and the opportunities it presents.

At Gameplan, we offer a Game Design course for high school students with six comprehensive projects powered by Unreal Engine Learning kits from Epic Games. It includes step-by-step projects and necessary tools for students, allowing for sequential learning. If you’re interested in more information about our course, please make sure to check it out here.

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