A Creative Game Design and Programming App: The detailed report

Abstract

We present a game creation app for tablets that builds on the popularity of video games while focusing attention on creativity and problem solving. With our app, users design and build a custom game by first drawing game characters and objects on paper with markers and crayons. The drawings are scanned into the app using the tablet's camera, and the scanned sprites are used to design levels. An event-based visual programming language allows users to program the logic of their game. In the spirit of creative play, users can test their game at any point or jump between the design and programming phases in order to realize their imagination. We evaluate our app with a user study to understand how gender and the use of self-made drawings influence the type of games users create as well as their state of flow during the creation process. Our results show that letting users draw their own game elements can lead to higher engagement. Regarding gender differences, we observe that girls tend to spend more time programming and less time testing compared to boys. We also show that our app can help girls gain self-confidence.