Game Maker · Lesson 3

Lesson 3: Games Mashup

Students combine well-known games into a new fast-play carnival game, making design decisions about fairness and scoring while applying an engineering design process.

Class time

about 90 minutes

Lesson

Lesson 3 of 5

Adventure

Game Maker

Student Objectives

I can…

✓ I can create a new game using what I know about design choices and data results.
✓ I can make design decisions that affect fairness and game outcomes.
✓ I can use procedural writing to communicate game rules and scoring methods.
✓ I can collaborate with teammates to build on shared ideas.
✓ I can apply an engineering design process and creativity to create a playable game.

At a Glance

Total: about 90 minutes

Section	Time	Slides	What happens
Launch	8 min	2–8	Introduce the lesson — to design a new quick-play game. Connect to the Data Habit of Mind: understanding context. Have students think about a game they are good at and analyze whether it is mostly skill or luck. Describe the two-day lesson flow and introduce NASA's engineering design process for creating and refining games. Share the driving question and connect it to the "defining a problem" step: How can we design a new game using what we have learned about data?
Engage	7 min	9–13	Give each student a blank piece of paper and set a 3-minute timer to individually brainstorm games they know (cards, board games, outdoor). When time is up, have students pair up and combine their lists using a "Novel Ideas Only" protocol. Connect to the engineering design process and celebrate human inventiveness.
Create	8 min	14–17	Set the stage for creative design and discuss what makes a good carnival game. Describe how to combine two games in a "mash up" to invent a new one. Set a 5-minute timer and have students brainstorm and sketch or describe their ideas on the Student Handout - Game Mashup. Emphasize that ALL ideas are valuable.
Consensus	12 min	18	Form groups of 3–4 students as needed. Describe the process of sharing one idea at a time and listening, then discuss to decide on ONE idea to develop into a new fast-paced carnival game.
Develop	8 min	19–23	Groups work together to develop a prototype of their one game idea using the Group Handout - Game Design packet as a guide. Explain the build constraints and game-design needs, and talk through the Cornhole game example. Set a 5-minute timer for groups to start designing, noting they will have more build time later.
Reflect (Lesson 3A)	2 min	—	Pause and notice — give students a brief moment to reflect on their game ideas and progress before the day ends.
Build (Lesson 3B)	2 min	—	On the second day, groups continue building their games, creating stand-alone instruction sheets and scoresheets for their prototype.
Reflect (Lesson 3B)	2 min	24	Share game ideas with partner teams or the whole class and gather feedback to refine the design before the carnival.

Materials & Prep

Print

Student Handout - Game Mashup · 1 per student
Print single-sided.
Group Handout - Game Design · 1 per group of 3–4 students
Print double-sided and stapled as a packet.

Gather

Blank paper for individual game list
1 per student.
Markers, colored pencils, or crayons
Various game-building materials
Cardstock or chipboard
For game instructions and building.
Tape, scissors, glue
Glue guns
Optional.
Games Library
Optional digital resource.
Pause cards
Optional.
Sentence starters, visual / bilingual vocabulary cards
Optional supports.

Digital

Slide deck
Internet access and a computer with projector to show slides.

Before You Teach

☐Set up classroom space for game building and testing.
☐Plan areas for group work and game building.
☐Plan where students can access materials and supplies.
☐Plan an area to keep games between Lesson 3A and 3B, and for use in Lesson 4.
☐Decide how students will get and put away materials (for example, groups take turns or assign a group material manager).

A note on this lesson

Lesson 3 is the design heart of the Game Maker Adventure. It builds on the previous lessons and gives students more agency and flexibility in designing their own games with rules and scoring. The lesson is intentionally fast-paced and collaborative, and it supports an engineering design process used by NASA: define a problem, generate multiple ideas, choose one idea to prototype, build the game, and get feedback to make another prototype.

The full lesson is 90 minutes of instruction, designed to run across two days (Lessons 3A and 3B) under most traditional bell schedules. Day 3A moves from an individual creativity activity (the game mash-up) into a team challenge where groups reach consensus on a single design. Day 3B is build time: teams design and build their games, make stand-alone instruction sheets, and create scoresheets, getting their prototypes ready for peer testing at the carnival in Lesson 4.

Not all games will be “finished” by the end — that’s okay. The goal is to get students thinking like game designers and to have working prototypes ready for peer testing. Along the way, students reflect on how their design decisions affect game fairness and scoring, reinforcing the idea that games generate data through their scoring systems, and that when you design a game you also get to design the system that keeps score.

What to watch for

The brainstorm protocol. During Engage, give students 2–3 minutes to list as many games as they can on their own — board games, card games, and outdoor games all count. Then pairs make a combined list, taking turns reading one item at a time and crossing off duplicates so each partnership ends with a long shared list of “Novel Ideas Only.”
The mash-up move. The creative leap is combining two known games — often a board or card game with an active, outdoor, or arcade-style game — into one new game. Emphasize that all ideas are valuable; this is a warm-up for creativity, not a judged exercise.
Reaching consensus. In groups of 3–4, have each student describe one idea and pass to the next until all ideas are shared. Only after every idea has been heard should the team decide on the one design they want to build for the carnival. Circulate and support groups as they generate and narrow their ideas.
Pacing across two days. Protect time for the build on Day 3B. Constraints and the Cornhole example from Develop help groups keep their prototypes buildable in the time available.
Connecting to data. As games take shape, prompt students to think about scoring as data: which outcomes happen most or least often, whether results match predictions, and how a design change would affect the data.

After class

Collect and save each group’s Group Handout - Game Design packet.
Check game readiness for the Lesson 4 game carnival.
Note which teams may need additional building time.
Identify teams that may benefit from peer feedback before the carnival.
Optional: photograph works-in-progress for documentation.