Game Maker · Lesson 4
Lesson 4: Data Carnival
Students play each other's games and give data-informed feedback to refine their designs in a fast-paced, collaborative final Game Maker lesson.
Overview
Students finish building their games and get the chance to play each other’s games and give data-informed feedback to improve their designs. This lesson is intentionally fast-paced and collaborative. Not all games will be “finished” by the end—that’s okay! The goal is to get students thinking like game designers and to have working prototypes ready for peer testing and feedback at the carnival. The carnival is a celebratory culmination of the students’ work with data!
Student Objectives
I can…
- ✓ I can use what I know about how design choices influence data results to give feedback to other teams' game designs.
- ✓ I can apply my learning that games generate data through scoring systems.
- ✓ I can use procedural writing to communicate game rules and scoring methods.
- ✓ I can collaborate with teammates to build on shared ideas.
- ✓ I can apply the engineering design process to create a playable game.
At a Glance
Total: about 45 minutes| Section | Time | Slides | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch — connect to prior work and Data Habits of Mind | 7 min | 2–10 | Describe the lesson — teams build and test their games so they can get feedback (data) from each other and consider how to modify their designs. Remind students of class agreements that matter for building and giving feedback. Have students individually write four words that describe their game, then share and compare with teammates. Introduce the Data Habit of Mind: perseverance, and connect it to testing, feedback, and improving a design. |
| Build — finalize game prototype and prepare for testing | 12 min | 11–13 | Re-orient students to their game design and the engineering design process. Have teams review their plans, identify missing components, and take 10 minutes to finalize their prototype, instructions, and score sheet. Stress playable over perfect — they just need something to test. Have students use the checklist (slide 13) to confirm their game is playable when the timer goes off. |
| Build — stop work and set up for the carnival | 2 min | 14–15 | Ask students to stop work when the timer goes off; it's okay if they aren't finished. Describe what groups need to do to prepare for testing, pass out the Group Handout - Feedback (1 per group), and remind students to be specific and kind — the feedback data will help teams improve. Give students 2 minutes to set up their game station for another team to play. |
| Data Carnival — play and give feedback | 12 min | 16 | Groups pair up and take turns playing each other's games while the design team watches. Set a 5-minute timer for the first group to play, call time, and give 1 minute to write feedback on the Group Handout - Feedback form. Reset for 5 minutes, switch roles, and again take 1 minute for feedback. |
| Reflect on Feedback — use data to improve design | 3 min | 17 | Pass out the Game Reflection Handout. Guide teams in reviewing score data and player feedback to determine whether their game met its design intention, and have students identify possible improvements based on evidence from the collected data and feedback. |
| Accessibility Check and Improve Design | 7 min | 18–20 | Guide students through an accessibility scenario and discuss how inclusive design can improve the player experience. Invite teams to consider possible modifications, make targeted revisions, and complete a final design reflection using evidence from testing, score data, and player feedback. |
| Closure — reflect on perseverance | 2 min | 21–22 | Facilitate a brief reflection on perseverance — invite students to think about a challenge their team encountered and how they worked through it, and to share examples of perseverance during the design, testing, and improvement process. |
Materials & Prep
- Group Handout - Feedback · 1 per group of 3–4 studentsPrint double-sided.
- Group Handout - Game Reflection · 1 per group of 3–4 studentsPrint single-sided. To make it an individual reflection, print 1 page per student.
Gather
- Group Handout — Game Design packetCompleted packet for each group, carried over from Lesson 3.
- Markers, colored pencils, or crayons
- Various game-building materials
- Cardstock or chipboardFor game instructions and building.
- Tape, scissors, glue
- Optional supportsGlue guns, sentence starters, and visual / bilingual vocabulary cards.
Digital
- Internet access and a computer with projectorTo show the slides.
Before You Teach
- ☐Set up classroom space for game building and testing.
- ☐Plan areas for group work and game building. Students will need their game designs from the prior lesson and should sit in the same groups to continue building and testing in teams.
- ☐Plan where students can access materials and supplies.
- ☐Decide how students will get and put away materials (for example, groups take turns or assign a group material manager).
Open slide deck to project launches the fullscreen slideshow in a new tab. Open with speaker notes opens the deck in Google Slides with the speaker-notes pane below each slide — read these to prep, or open presenter view while projecting. The preview above is just a quick look.