Dundee Primary School Games Design Project

Here are a few examples of how some of the schools approached the project.

Ballumbie Primary school focused their games on the famous book The Desperate Journey by Kathleen Fidler. The groups took care to make their game historically accurate and mirror the original text. Two classes at Longhaugh Primary Schools also gave a theme to their projects, by basing them on keys (so keys had to be included in the idea somewhere). The Primary six class at Longhaugh combined the project with their IT class, making some amazing games in Scratch.

The Primary Six class at Dens Road created game ideas based on the theme of space. They created adverts where they filmed themselves pitching their games, along with artwork and box covers. This is now being expanded upon in their IT classes

Some schools used the project to engage with coding

Barnhill Primary school made a huge effort with their project, expressing their ideas in lots of different ways. For their characters, they used iteration to come up with their best ideas. I explained this by using an example from the game Shu, showing how the artist went through different colours and design ideas, before reaching the final character. They showcased their final characters by making them into Pokémon cards. Level designs were created in Kodu to compliment their game design work. Alongside character designs and concept posters, they also did research into the games market and its demographics and doing surveys around the school. Barnhill also created music and sound effects for their games using instruments. Additionally, they made their own William Morris patterns, inspired by my game, focusing on how they repeat.

Saint Peter & Paul’s Primary School also worked hard on their ideas. Initially they came up with their own ideas, but it then developed into a much bigger project, with the whole class working on one idea. In my first visit I talked about the different roles in the industry, so when I came back they had divided into groups, all focusing on a different task. The result was a beautifully presented sports game.

The pupils now have a chance to show off their work in an exhibition at Dundee Central Library at the end of March. I’ve also encouraged them to enter the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition. For me, the project has been fulfilling and I’ve been inspired by the pupils work. Now I’m on the lookout for exciting games opportunities!