My First Game Design: From Idea to Paper Prototype!

A fun, hands-on introduction for Aria to the world of game design. She'll brainstorm her own game idea, define its core elements, and create a playable paper prototype to test her concepts.

Create Your Own Custom Lesson Plan
PDF

My First Game Design: From Idea to Paper Prototype!

Get ready to bring your own game ideas to life, Aria! Today, we're diving into the exciting world of game design by creating a paper prototype.

Materials You'll Need:

  • Paper (plain and/or grid paper is great!)
  • Pens, pencils, colorful markers
  • Scissors (with supervision if needed)
  • Optional but fun: Dice, coins, small tokens (like buttons, beads, or mini-figures), index cards

Let's Get Started! (About 60-90 minutes)

Step 1: What Makes a Game? (10-15 minutes)

Think about your favorite games, Aria! What makes them fun? Let's chat about:

  • What's the goal or objective of your favorite game? (e.g., reach the finish line, collect all items, defeat the boss)
  • What are the main rules you have to follow?
  • Are there characters? What are they like?
  • What's the setting or world of the game?
  • What are the challenges or obstacles?
  • How do you win or lose?

All these things are super important parts of any game!

Step 2: Your Awesome Game Idea! (15-20 minutes)

Now it's your turn to be the game designer! Let's brainstorm a simple game idea. Don't worry about making it perfect or super complex right now. Simple is best for a first prototype!

Ask yourself (and jot down your ideas):

  1. What kind of game do you want to make? (e.g., a board game, a card game, a simple adventure)
  2. What's the main goal for the player? (e.g., collect 5 magical gems, escape a maze, be the first to reach a treasure)
  3. Who is the player? (A brave explorer? A sneaky spy? A cute animal?) You can even design a simple character!
  4. Where does the game take place? (A mysterious island? A futuristic city? A magical forest?)
  5. What are 1-2 simple rules? (e.g., \"Roll a die to move,\" \"Draw a card on your turn,\" \"Avoid landing on red spaces\")
  6. What's one challenge or obstacle? (e.g., a monster, a trap, a tricky question)

Your Task: On a piece of paper, write down a short description of your game idea, including answers to the questions above. Give your game a cool name!

Step 3: Paper Prototyping Power! (20-30 minutes)

Time to make your game tangible! A paper prototype is a super quick way to test if your game idea is fun and works. We'll use our art supplies for this.

Here's how you can start:

  • Game Board (if needed): If your game has a path or areas, draw a simple version on paper. It could be a series of squares, a winding path, or different zones.
  • Player Pieces/Character: Draw and cut out a small representation of your player character. You can use a coin or button too!
  • Cards (if needed): If your game involves cards (e.g., for actions, events, or challenges), use index cards or cut small rectangles from paper. Write or draw what each card does. Keep it simple for now (e.g., \"Move 2 spaces,\" \"Miss a turn,\" \"Collect 1 gem\").
  • Items/Tokens: If players collect things (like gems, coins, keys), draw and cut them out, or use small physical tokens.

Remember: It doesn't have to be beautiful art! The goal is to make something you can actually play and test quickly. Stick figures are totally fine!

Your Task: Create the basic physical parts of your game using paper, pens, and scissors.

Step 4: Let's Playtest and Iterate! (15-20 minutes)

This is the most important part! We're going to play your game (or a part of it). I'll be your first playtester (or you can play against yourself).

As we play, think about:

  • Are the rules clear? Did we forget anything?
  • Is it fun? What's the most fun part?
  • Is it too easy? Too hard?
  • Is anything confusing?
  • Does the game flow well?
  • What would make it even better?

It's okay if things don't work perfectly! That's what prototyping is for. We find what's clunky, what's confusing, and what's fun, then we make changes (this is called iteration).

Your Task: Play through your game at least once. After playing, discuss what worked, what didn't, and one TWEAK you could make to improve it. You can even try making that tweak to your paper prototype right away!

Awesome Work, Game Designer!

Congratulations, Aria! You've just gone through the core process of game design: ideation, prototyping, and playtesting! This is how real game developers start making amazing games.

What's Next?

  • You can keep refining your paper prototype.
  • Think about adding more features, rules, or challenges.
  • We can explore simple digital game-making tools in a future lesson if you're interested!

Keep those creative ideas flowing!