During a recent trip to Malaysia as part of Creative Culture project, myself and colleague Oliver Wood designed and delivered a rapid prototyping workshop for the creation of educational games.

Sometimes it can be challenging to explain the benefits of game design thinking to individuals who may see the concept of gaming as just playing, and not learning. Those who have experienced playful and gameful learning know how powerful the practice can be. But for other, more sceptical individuals, the best way to espouse the benefits of such practice is to immerse them in some form of practical application. In this case, a rapid game prototyping workshop, where the end result is an educational game, designed by a diverse group of academics to meet specific learning outcomes.

The purpose of this workshop was to encourage participants to design educational game prototypes in a compressed timeframe, in order to expose educators to game design thinking through direct practical application…