skip to main content

In this 10-week unit, students in Years 7 to 9 will learn the fundamentals of game design and development to create an entry for the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge (STEM VGC). Through a series of lessons and activities, students will work across the curriculum developing their critical thinking, problem-solving, and digital literacy skills. The unit will culminate in the creation and submission of a fully developed video game prototype aligned with the competition's Game Design Document (GDD) and scoring rubrics.

Jump to lesson list

Implementation

STEM VGC rules require students to work in teams of up-to-four. The teacher resources assume that students will work in teams of three or four and will have access to at least one device per team. It is expected that students will work through all the activities to build foundational skills in each of the focus areas. Many of the student resources can be used either on devices or printed for hardcopy use.

Learn with your students

We know that many teachers will be learning along with their students, so we have added some tips and extra information to support you along the way. For example, did you know that there is a difference between coding and programming? ‘Coding’ refers to writing the lines of code, whereas ‘programming’ includes not only writing code but also designing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the entire software application.

Support materials

  • 10 full lesson plans with links to tutorials and student resources
  • Australian Curriculum alignment:
  • Digital Technologies as well as relevant cross curricula subjects
  • General Capabilities

Flexibility

We have designed this unit to suit a standard 10-week term. All lessons will take approximately 1 hour. This timeframe indicates the minimum amount of time needed to achieve the goal of creating a simple working video game and Game Design Document (GDD). If you have more time, implementing this unit over a semester is ideal. To extend this unit over a semester, we recommend spending additional time in the Design phase.

We have grouped the lessons together into three different phases: Planning, Design and Reflection. The order of the lessons within each phase is structured for optimal time efficiency, but there is flexibility to move lessons around within the phases. For example, we believe it is more time-efficient to complete the game mechanics lesson before working on creating visual and audio assets. This allows teams to implement and test core game mechanics early before spending time creating the game's visual and audio assets. However, if preferred, teams can design visual and audio assets first to have a clearer vision of their game's look and feel, before beginning programming. 

Certain lessons need to be completed before others, such as team organization before game mechanics. Therefore, each lesson plan includes a section for prerequisite lessons. Be sure to check for prerequisite lessons before making any changes.

Introduction  Planning

In this lesson, students are introduced to the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge (STEM VGC) and its requirements. They will explore game design principles through interactive activities and understand the criteria used by the STEM VGC judges.

Game Planning  Planning

In this lesson, students will be introduced to this year’s STEM VGC theme and brainstorm game ideas around that theme.

Game Overview  Designing

In this lesson, students will develop their game narrative, characters and game environments. They will use a storyboard to visualise the structure, key elements and gameplay features of their game.

Gameplay and Mechanics  Designing

In this lesson, students will be introduced to algorithms and programs. They will begin to consider the coding requirements of their game and choose a suitable game development platform to use.

Visual Design  Designing

In this lesson, students will begin developing the visual elements of their STEM VGC entry. This includes creating the look of characters and scenes. Visual design may continue to be developed over subsequent weeks.

Audio Design  Designing

In this lesson, students will begin developing the audio elements of their STEM VGC entry. This includes creating sound effects and music for their characters and scenes. Audio design may continue to be developed over subsequent weeks.

Prototyping  Designing

In this lesson, students will create a prototype of their video game and share their game development problems and solutions with others.

Alpha Testing  Reflection

In this lesson, students will formally test their own games using criteria developed from the scoring rubric.

Beta Testing  Reflection

In this lesson, students will formally test other teams’ games using criteria developed from the scoring rubric.

Reflecting: Modifying and Finalising  Reflection

In this lesson, students will make final adjustments to their games before submission and reflect on their products and processes.