With considerable amount of experience in teaching at school level and developing videogames, I have been able to draw parallels between the two. Gagné's Nine Events Of Instruction is a series of steps employable in teaching learning process. This article aims to approach game design through an educator's perspective with special reference to Gagné's nine events of instruction.
Contents
1. Gain attention
2. Inform learners of the objectives
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning
4. Present the content
5. Provide learning guidance
6. Elicit performance
7. Provide feedback
8. Assess performance
9. Enhance retention and transfer
You have around 20 seconds before a player decides whether they want to keep playing your game or
give up on it. You should try to provide an experience within the first 20 seconds that makes them
want to stay.
At the start of the game, you can show the player something spectacular, thought provoking,
questions that
create suspense or anticipation, or something along these lines. This could help you make the player
stay.
For example, some racing games would often let the player drive a relatively fast car in order to
give them
a taste of what they could be doing once they make enough progress. Some walking simulators put the
player in a strange scenario where they would be asking questions to gain clarification.
Once you have shown the player what they will be working for, you tell them what is expected from them. This often involves completing numerous missions or tasks. For example, racing games tell the player that they need to start with the low level racers and work their way towards the top of the chart. Walking simulators tell the player that they need to solve puzzles, talk to someone, complete some tasks in order to solve a mystery or accomplish the end goal.
Provide the player with tools and information (mechanics such as movement, jump, boost, shoot) which are necessary to overcome a challenge. Since the player already knows what it is to walk, run, jump, drive, etc. you can use their prior knowledge to build something new on top of it, such as double jumps, wall jumps, wall running, driving on unusual surfaces.
Provide the player with the level. In a platformer game, begin with a static platform with no risk
involved. Then add a platform that moves back and forth. Then add a static platform with no safe
ground underneath. Then add a moving platform with no safe ground underneath.
Here you are presenting the elements of the level in such a way that the player begins learning to
use the mechanics (run and jump) in a safe and easy environment and then in a slightly more risky
and challenging environment.
You can use in-world elements to guide the player regarding what to do, how to do, where to go, etc. Some games show the player that a certain part of the level is lethal by having an NPC (non playable character) walk into the lethal zone. Some games show the player that there is a hidden path or entrance by adding moss at the entrance or having sunrays fall on it. Some games show that the player can use certain parts of the environment by having an NPC or any other game object interact with the parts of the environment. For example, if a platform is likely to collapse within a second of touching it, a rock or an NPC can be shown falling on it and then the platform being destroyed.
Once the player is shown the basics and the core mechanics, it is time to test the player. Create an elaborate level filled with platforms and challenges in various combinations to provide an opportunity for the player to demonstrate that they have understood the rules/mechanics of the game and are capable of applying their knowledge in a variety of scenarios.
Feedback is crucial in guiding the player. Positive feedback such as rewards encourages the player
to
repeat an
action or proceed in a certain direction, and negative feedback such as losing a life, an item, or
points prompts the player to avoid
repeating something.
Feedback in visual, auditory, and haptic can add depth, responsiveness, and immersiveness to
player's experience. For example, when a character is running, have some dust particles rise up at
their feet. If a car hits a pole, play appropriate audio to reflect the action happening on the
screen. Some videogame controllers provide haptic feedback for nearly everything happening on the
screen. Learn more from Grapefrukt's video.
Feedback should be provided to the player for every action they perform. If the player does
something, the game should tell them what changes have occured in the game. If the player is
expected to do something, the game should be explicit about it and also hint at it. If
the player fails at completing a
task, it should not be so because the game did not provide adequate information or in a clear
manner. An interesting example for this is Mark
Of The Ninja
If the player character dies, the game should make it explicit how the character died
and how the same can be avoided. If the player shoots an NPC, clear feedback should be provided to
convey that the hit was registered, and how much health the NPC had lost.
Raise the stakes and increase the level of difficulty. Provide opportunities such as a range of
bosses,
challenging level design, or other
high level challenges for the player to overcome with the help of all the knowledge they have gained
so
far
and the skills they
have mastered. An interesting example for this
is Ginso Tree from Ori And The Blind Forest.
You can have a series of moving platforms which also break when the
player touches them; remove the ground under the platforms; have a time limit; an NPC continuously
attacking the player character.
Design levels in such a way that the knowledge and skills acquired in an earlier level can be
utilised in the present level while also introducing a new mechanic which will be present or used in
the upcoming level.
This not only adds variety to the game but also allows the player to practice, carry their knowledge
over to a novel setting while learning something new in addition to their existing knowledge.
Some platformer games implement various kinds of platforms which appear in multiple levels and in
various contexts where new platforms are also introduced. Super Mario 3D World is an interesting example.
Published on 2 February 2023