During my time at the V&A, I took part in an in-depth workshop with year 7 students, setting them a game design brief. The students from Highgate Wood School were given galleries to look at for inspiration then design a game and make a small section of it.
The project was structured by having a day to explore the museum and learn from me about game development. I went over the different roles in the industry, what my next game is being inspired by, and let them try the older games consoles in my studio, such as the GameBoy, PS1 and Dreamcast. It's really interesting to watch children play on consoles that were around before they were born, as they approach playing so differently to people my age. The students then explored a few different galleries, formed groups and came up with some initial ideas. We gave them V&A postcards with questions on the back to prompt game ideas, and what mechanics to think about.
The project was structured by having a day to explore the museum and learn from me about game development. I went over the different roles in the industry, what my next game is being inspired by, and let them try the older games consoles in my studio, such as the GameBoy, PS1 and Dreamcast. It's really interesting to watch children play on consoles that were around before they were born, as they approach playing so differently to people my age. The students then explored a few different galleries, formed groups and came up with some initial ideas. We gave them V&A postcards with questions on the back to prompt game ideas, and what mechanics to think about.
The students then had a 6 weeks to work on the concepts in their computer club at school. Me and Cara Williams from the Learning Department at the V&A took a visit to Highgate Wood School to see how they were getting on, and I was able to help with any technical or design problems they were having. When returning to the V&A, they worked hard to finish off their ideas and present them to each other and the V&A staff.
Most of the games were inspired by the Chinese and Japanese galleries at the museum, with the students creating Samurai and dragon characters. The students approached the task in a few different ways. While they all made game concepts and ideas, some made small snippets of the game, such as a game over screen, or animatics or a section of gameplay.
You can read more about the workshop on the V&A Blog
Most of the games were inspired by the Chinese and Japanese galleries at the museum, with the students creating Samurai and dragon characters. The students approached the task in a few different ways. While they all made game concepts and ideas, some made small snippets of the game, such as a game over screen, or animatics or a section of gameplay.
You can read more about the workshop on the V&A Blog
