[{"content":{"text":"Schell Games has grown a lot over its 22-year lifespan, growing into one of the largest full-service educational and entertainment game development companies in the U.S.<\/p>But that one word, education, goes way beyond the products we create. Led by Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University, Schell Games<\/a> extends education to everyone from top level game developers to aspiring game designers.<\/p>Each month, we'll be dissecting a different Lens from The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses<\/em><\/a> by our CEO Jesse Schell<\/a>. It's our hope that you use these as you develop your game or are looking to critically analyze what makes someone else's game successful.<\/p>Happy creating!<\/p>"},"id":"66947326-ee18-4902-b74e-cc50208af631","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/9AyVUsSYn2MpuF72"],"src":"","alt":"Lens of the Problem Statement","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"60499b77-c827-4364-8750-eeb44703bf5c","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"The Lens of the Problem Statement","customid":""},"id":"df8a755f-c0fa-4ace-ba5f-fe4e238552db","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"How This Works:<\/strong> Use this Lens (full text below as well) and picture your game at the same time. See how you answer each question and how difficult it is to arrive at these conclusions.<\/p>Repeat and refine until complete - how much different does your potential game look or did you conclude a game may not be the answer to this problem?Full Text:<\/strong><\/p>Lens 14: Think of your game as the solution to the problem\u2611\ufe0f What are you trying to solve?\u2611\ufe0f Are you making assumptions about the game?\u2611\ufe0f Is a game the best solution?\u2611\ufe0f How can you tell if the problem is solved?<\/p>"},"id":"494b4ed5-1ce9-4e95-bf1c-4530a07f2f42","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/H2czhOHUeyQSAAWP"],"src":"","alt":"Roblox unveils Virtual Vote poster with their iconic avatars atop an American flag covered United States","caption":"VirtualVoteNow official graphic","link":"https:\/\/x.com\/VirtualVoteNow\/status\/1847277085196222573","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"b75b2f0a-8713-42f5-960e-6ad6c13f5b06","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Example - Virtual Vote on Roblox","customid":""},"id":"3872ff84-88ea-4f5f-aea7-400d7fd65bb1","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"Now, let's try out Lens 14 with a practical, real-world example. Recently, Roblox released an experience called Virtual Vote<\/a> to help the Gen Z check their voter registration and encourage them to vote this November. with nonpartisan graphical elements and text. How does it follow Lens 14?<\/p>\u2611\ufe0f What is Roblox trying to solve?<\/p>According to BusinessWire<\/a>, 16 million members of Gen Z can vote for the first time in 2024, and voter participation in 2020 was less than 1\/3 of eligible voters for this key demographic. This experience is attempting to help empower Gen Z to get interested in politics and vote!<\/p>\u2611\ufe0f Are you making assumptions about the game?<\/p>Trying to meet voters where they are is tricky business. Both the Biden and Harris campaigns have made custom Fortnite<\/em> maps <\/a>for their respective campaigns and VP-nominee Tim Walz was recently streaming Dreamcast's Crazy Taxi<\/em><\/a>. But these attempts can also backfire, like Hilary Clinton's infamous \"Pokemon Go<\/em><\/a> to the polls\" comment back in 2016 to make candidates feel pandering or out of touch.<\/p>In this author's opinion, the Virtual Vote experience is making some BIG assumptions that gamers on Roblox are open to this message and will take the desired actions.<\/p>\u2611\ufe0f Is a game the best solution?<\/p>For some of us, we live in a world where political ads dominate every part of our algorithm, and it may be tough to imagine people unaware of an upcoming election.<\/p>But setting apart that bias, it helps to remember that Gen Z is seeing a completely different timeline than ourselves and is much more receptive to influencers and messages on the platforms they are already on. Maybe a nonpartisan voting gamified experience for Gen Z on Roblox isn't the entire solution, but (when incentivized properly) it could certainly become part of one.<\/p>\u2611\ufe0f How can you tell if the problem is solved?<\/p>So far, reports<\/a> on the success for Virtual Vote include more than 2 million users engaging with it and 4,000 new voter registrations. It's not nothing, and 4,000 new voters in a swing state could absolutely have an impact. But it's going to take a lot more to get a significant portion Gen Z interested in politics and actually voting in November.<\/p>"},"id":"71104df5-d942-4deb-8d62-e7c096382dcd","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/v4quyiaUJEEtQ3Ja"],"src":"","alt":"Roblox Virtual Vote campaign poster","caption":"Can Roblox change the way Gen Z views politics? We'll see","link":"https:\/\/x.com\/VirtualVoteNow","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"49a3e503-4a6e-48e4-86c6-e9e57ac4cfb0","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Art of Game Design","customid":""},"id":"ba1a41ff-8a5a-4c0c-b662-065aaa88864d","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"This is just one quick example of all of the knowledge and expertise contained within The Art of Game Design<\/em><\/a>. Learn more about the book, the 110+ Lenses that come with it and more about CEO Jesse Schell on The Art of Game Design website.<\/p>"},"id":"c653b03c-e5e0-4e58-a721-437a44b77e89","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/schellgames.com\/art-of-game-design","text":"Read More","class":"","id":""},"id":"f8e2ec5f-d0c4-4dbd-9d44-3c1a2199c5ca","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/hgrUEHXj7dodOq7e"],"src":"","alt":"Art of Game Design","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"ff0e26b8-a389-4728-b801-1aeb538e3887","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"View More Lenses","customid":""},"id":"7abdec0e-02be-4a9e-bf62-9659bedf95ee","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"All Lenses can also be accessed digitally for no cost. Use the Deck of Lenses<\/a> for inspiration when developing an experience, playtesting, brainstorming, and anything in between.<\/p>"},"id":"7e2626d9-5ed8-41c5-a2a4-f4e706e6e326","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/deck.artofgamedesign.com\/#\/","text":"Deck of Lenses","class":"","id":""},"id":"d03bcccd-2bda-4198-a991-6ff74d982392","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"}]
