interviews about game making

I've been interviewing some of my year 12 students about game making. This has helped to crystallise some new thoughts.

One successful student, pseudonym dannydig, described himself as a logical thinker and someone who liked "hands on" learning. He went on to say that game making was creative but in a different sense from English (the subject) being creative. Later on he described the process of choosing his sprites as difficult and important but then went on to say that getting the game play right was also a protracted, creative process.

This response highlighted for me the complexity and diversity of the game making process. Students have to make artistic choices about their sprites, backgrounds and music. They have to design a new game. They have to learn to program in Game Maker language. They go through the difficult process of trying to turn their design idea into a satisfying creation.

This involves artistic, logical, creative, hands on and reflective activity in a complex mix. It is also difficult for me, the teacher, to keep up with the diversity of it all.

All the students interviewed spoke with some pride about the games they have made. All of them have experienced difficulties along the way and their products at this stage may not match what they had hoped to achieve. Nevertheless, the feeling expressed is strongly that the process has been worthwhile.