PlayDesign: Uma estratégia para auxiliar professores na elaboração de elementos de design para um jogo digital educacional

Abstract

The integration of digital technologies into the classroom has become an increasingly prominent subject of discussion in contemporary education. The BNCC (Base Nacional Comum Curricular) functions as a guiding reference for curricular development, highlighting the importance of incorporating such technologies into pedagogical practices. In this context, it is essential that teachers acquire the necessary competencies and tools to effectively employ digital resources, thereby creating more engaging and meaningful learning experiences for students who are already immersed in technological environments on a daily basis. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how the PlayDesign strategy can support teachers in structuring and organizing knowledge related to game design, while simultaneously mitigating the technical challenges commonly associated with the development of digital games. To elaborate the proposed strategy, several frameworks for digital game development were analyzed. Frameworks are generally useful in guiding the development process of digital games; however, they often operate at a high level of abstraction. As a result, advanced technical knowledge is typically required for their effective use. In order to reduce both the abstraction level and the technical expertise demanded in the development process, this research seeks to approach the theme from a more accessible perspective. Among the frameworks examined, PlayEduc was selected as the primary reference for defining essential elements of game design, including narrative, camera, control, graphics, trajectory, and complexity. Based on this analysis, the proposal suggests a tool designed to support the development of each of these elements. At the conclusion of the research, a set of tools was defined and associated with each design element: for the narrative element, the items “history” and “step outline”; for the character element, character files; for the camera element, different types of cameras; for the control element, selected acts/mechanics and the formal descriptive method; for the graphic element, adapted steps of the scene elaboration method for games; for the trajectory element, a flowchart; and for the complexity element, heuristics based on flow theory. The tests were conducted in accordance with the project approved under the Certificado de Apresentação de Apreciação Ética (CAAE) number 86161524.1.0000.5152, provided by the Brazil Platform and authorized by the CEP. These tests were carried out with teachers from a state school, and the results demonstrated that the proposed strategy effectively reduces the level of abstraction involved in developing the design elements of digital games.