Leah's Game Design

This week, I started thinking more about the game mechanics of Garden Mania. I know that I want players to be able to move around in different parts of the United States to restore gardens, but I'm not exactly sure about all the mechanics. I thought I could maybe have some sort of resource management aspect to the game. Resource management would involve the players establishing values for various resources i.e. plants, but I don't know if that would take away from the goal of the game. I do think it is important for players to learn about budgeting when planting a new garden, but I think I want the focus to be more on learning about which plants will grow where, instead of how much it is going to cost to grow those plants. I still have not completely decided about that yet though.  I know I want players to have an inventory of different plants maybe with info sheets about which hardiness zone they will grow in, how much sun and water they need, how much fertilizer, etc. This wi...

The original math game I thought of for this class involved picking a character such as an ogre, yeti, or other "monster" to have to escape people trying to capture them. The game would involve the character running down a path while math problems pop up on the screen. The player would have to run over the correct answer to stay ahead of the mob of people trying to capture them. If they run over the incorrect answer, they trip and risk being captured. After more thought, I realized this game did not intrinsically integrate learning into the core game mechanics. Although the mathematical content is attached to the core mechanic, the two are not actually integrated at all, which is why the learning content could so easily be replaced with spelling or something else. The second game I came up with, Garden Mania, does a better job of intrinsically integrating learning into the core game mechanics. The game delivers learning material through the parts of the game that are most fun...

I originally hoped to make a math learning game geared toward elementary school students. However, I had a hard time conceptualizing something that required the players to use math concepts in a practical way so I tossed the idea. Instead, I started to think about another hobby of mine - gardening. I conceptualized a game called Garden Mania that requires the player to restore gardens around the United States. The player will have the opportunity to travel to different parts of the US where they will encounter different goals in the gardens they are hired to restore. The game will require the player to learn about different hardiness zones and which plants can grow in these zones. They'll have the option to plant shrubs, ground coverings, flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, etc. Plants that are grown in the wrong hardiness zones or with too much shade or sunlight will not do well and the player won't achieve the goal. The player will also have to think about the spacing of plant...