|
Create-A-Game
Working in small groups, you and your
classmates will create a game based around one particular religion as the theme
for your game.
Group members should spend the first half of
the semester learning all they can about the religion upon which their game will
be based:
-
Each group will select a different
religion from among the five major religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism or Buddhism (groups may be selected based on individual student
interest in a given religion. Students may choose to create a game based
upon a religion they are already somewhat familiar with. Such students will
be the "resident experts" for the group but all group members
should still do their own research into the religion)
-
Research can be done independently. The
group may decide that each member will research a different aspect of the
religion (e.g., history, beliefs, practices, the community, etc.) or any or
all members may choose to learn as much as they can about the basics of the
religion.
-
By midterm, each group member will present
a written report (based on their own research) outlining or
summarizing the basic important aspects of the religion in question. This
report will be part of your grade for the course (see syllabus). Reports
should:
-
be between 1 - 5 pages (depending upon
extent of topic)
-
contain just the facts (for this
purpose, do not confuse basic information with personal commentary,
analysis or evaluation, but do determine which are the most
important facts to concentrate on)
-
cite sources! (you and/or your group
mates may want to refer back to these sources for additional information
as you proceed with this project)
-
you may simply edit material
directly from your sources but must indicate the sources the
material is taken from
-
Copies of these reports should be provided
for each group member as well as for the instructor.
-
Your first "Encounter and
Dialogue" experience may be related to the religion you are
researching for this project but the two reports are to be entirely
independent of each other.
During the second half of the semester, groups will work on
the actual production of their games, utilizing the knowledge they have gained
from their earlier research, revising and fine-tuning their ideas and knowledge
as they work:
-
You will want to decide what kind of game
this should be: it might be a board game, a card game, a trivia game (with
board and/or cards), a "game show" format, etc.
-
You will want to develop the rules for
your game: what is the goal? How will it be played? How is the game won?
(the goal of the game might be the goal of the religion: e.g.: to "get
to heaven," to "achieve enlightenment" or Nirvana, or the
goal of the game might be along the lines of "collecting twelve ‘apostles’
cards" or "to collect 613 ‘Mitzvah’ points" ), etc.
-
You will want to develop a game board,
playing pieces, cards for play, questions to be answered, dice or spinner,
etc. (any or all such parts to the game as needed). This is where you can
get creative (you might incorporate some of the symbols or images related to
the religion in question).
-
The group should decide who will work on
which part of the game production: who will write up the directions for
play? Who will create the game board, cards, pieces, etc.? You might even
want to create a box for your game.
-
Important : Your
game should require a certain degree of knowledge on the part of the players
in order to play well: to play the game should require skill and knowledge
regarding the religion in question, not just chance (e.g., the roll of a
dice or draw of the cards). Your game should teach, reinforce (through
practice) and/or test the knowledge of the players.
Keep in mind that each group member should
pull his or her own weight in both the research and the production part of this
project. In the end, you will each be evaluated by your group mates as to how
much you each contributed to the project.
Games will be played during finals week with
each student playing a game that other groups created. Players will evaluate the
games and their evaluations will contribute to the group grade for the game
production along with the instructor’s evaluation.
Learn
more about religious games
return to top
|