Featured Lesson Plans
The Scalable Game Design Project ended when the oDREAMS project extension was finished in 2018. However, the Scalable Game Design philosophy lives on!
Currently, the eMINTs organization at the University of Missouri is teaming up with AgentSheets, Inc. to create teacher PD based on the Scalable Game Design Method. This eDGE research project combines Computer Science and Math and is funded by the Department of Education. Eligible upper elementary teachers and schools can still participate. If you are interested, find out more by contacting eMINTs *eDGE Info.
AgentSheets, Inc. continues to develop and update Scalable Game Design Tutorials designed for teachers and even homeschoolers who are teaching coding through Computational Thinking Patterns. Subscribe here: *AgentSheets
Resources and References for Teachers
AgentSheets Articles
- Coding Games for Critical Thinking Skills
- How to Explain Algorithms to Kids
- Example AgentCubes Online animations
- Other AgentCubes Online demonstration projects.
- What The Heck is a CTP Presentation (pdf)
Design your own Game - past SGD Presentation
External References
- Code.org What Most Schools Don't Teach 9:34 minute Full Length Version
- Code.Org Video 5:55 minute Version
- Code.Org Video 1 minute Teaser
AgentCubes Online Tutorial Materials
These materials have been developed specifically for the online version of AgentCubes called AgentCubes online. All these resources are based on the guided discovery approach.
Google drive folder with assessment materials
AgentCubes Online Frogger
You are a frog. Hop across a busy highway, dodging cars and trucks, until you get to the edge of a river, where you must keep yourself from drowning by leaping onto the backs of turtles and logs. Win by getting to the Grotto.
Frogger is a classic arcade style game from 1981 developed by Sega. 3D Frogger is a good first game design activity for students with no programming background.
Frogger Lite is a free tutorial updated for the latest version of AgentCubes online. It is created for use with the "Lite" (unsubscribed) version of ACO. This material is copyright of AgentSheets, Inc. and may NOT be reprinted or adapted for anything other than free educational use without express permission of AgentSheets, Inc.:
AgentCubes Online First Person Lesson
AgentCubes Online enables students to move their game into First Person mode. Learn how here!
First Person is a style of video game developed in the early 1970s. These games are quite realistic, since they allow the user to play from the perspective of a character in the game.
AgentCubes Online Journey
Journey is a game where a traveler tries to reach a goal, with chasers blocking his way. It is a good second game to build after Frogger to add the Hill Climbing and Diffusion computational thinking patterns. These CTPs comprise the "chasing" behavior that is common to many games and simulations like Predator/Prey.
The Journey tutorial is available on the AgentSheets website.
AgentCubes Online Contagion
Infectious diseases are spread among humans in various ways, including direct contact, aerosols (e.g., coughing and sneezing), and other indirect methods, such as mutual handling of objects.
Contagion is a simulation of the spread of infectious disease through close proximity. It is done by starting with a simple model of contact spreading. It is then expandable in stages, including the addition of natural immunity, vaccination, recovery, fatality, and data plotting. Suitable for middle school and up.
The Contagion tutorial is available on the AgentSheets website.
AgentCubes Online PacMan
As PacMan, your goal is simple: eat as many pellets as you can without being attacked by ghosts. PacMan will die if he encounters normal ghosts. When PacMan eats a power pellet, ghosts turn blue and can be eaten for a limited time.
Pac-Man is a classic arcade style game from 1980 developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the U.S. by Bally/Midway.
AgentSheets' PacMan is a similar game which is a good first game design activity for high school students with no programming background.
The PacMan Tutorial has a simplified version that can be used from upper elementary students and middle school students, then layering complexity to include Hill-climbing and diffusion, plotting, and the power-pellet behavior. It is available on the AgentSheets website.
