Gamestar Mechanic

Overview
Gamestar Mechanic (G*M) is a digital learning platform developed by Gamelab and supported through a partnership with the Institute of Play, E-Line Ventures, and the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab (AADLC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In Gamestar Mechanic, players learn the fundamentals of game design as they create games, and share them with a larger community of players. Within the game, players take the role of “game mechanics” in a steampunk world where the rules and elements of games have come to life as creatures. Players use these creatures to repair broken games and create new ones. As an apprentice game mechanic, players prove their expertise by completing a series of increasingly complex game design challenges, earning experience and leveling up on their way towards membership in the Council of Master Mechanics--at which point they can become mentors to others within the community. The target audience for Gamestar Mechanic is students in the 4th to 9th grade range, but that segment is by no means restrictive.

The Institute of Play has developed a Learning Guide and Strategy Guide for Gamestar Mechanic. Funding for the platform, online strategy guide, and learning guide came from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Assessment framework
Robert Torres, a core member of the Gamestar assessment team is developing a set of core heuristics to be considered as part of the assessment program for Gamestar Mechanic. These heuristics point to a set of skills the game supports.

Project support provided by