I generally start off the school year in my 2nd and 3rd year classes by reviewing game design structure. The class reviews simple concepts like objectives, procedures, rules, and outcomes as they relate to game design.

This year my students were confident that they understood the concepts and that I was wasting valuable class time when they could be working on computers. To prove to me that they understood game design structure I asked them to create the game structure for Tic Tac Toe. I figured it would be a fairly easy assignment since everyone has played a game or two of Tic Tac Toe.

As I walked around the classroom, I started to notice small flaws in the procedures and rules from some students. Instead of pointing out the errors, I let the students continue the exercise. After all the students finished, I asked them to find a partner to play a game of Tic Tac Toe. The catch was that they students had to play the game exactly as the game structure document stated. Once they played the game they had to swap directions and play another game.

Ten minutes later, I surveyed the class to find out the results of the Tic Tac Toe games. I wasn’t interested in how many times X won; I wanted to know how many games were actually played. In my 2nd year class, 56% of the games could not be completed and 50% in my 3rd year class. I asked the class how was this possible? It was a game of Tic Tac Toe not Risk.

The errors were simple and small. Some students forget to mention that you needed pen or paper, how to set up the grid, or that the players needed to take turns placing X’s and O’s. We discussed how Tic Tac Toe is a game that they have probably played hundreds of times and the majority of the class could not write the proper game structure. I asked “What is going to happen when you are the only one that knows what is going on in a game you are creating?”

The class discussion turned to how the students need to be more thorough in their documentation and not to assume that the player will know how to play the game. I am interested to see what the students turn in for their first project in a few weeks. Hopefully, they will be more detailed than previous attempts.