Creativity corresponds to the ability to generate productions that are both original and adapted with respect to the context in which they occur (Lubart et al., 2015). This bipartite definition is the subject of a relative consensus in the scientific community (Runco & Jaeger, 2012).
Originality refers to the unusual, novel character of the production. Adaptability refers to usefulness (Runco, 1988), value (Ford, 1996), appropriateness (Runco et al., 2005) or the ability to solve a problem (Besemer & Treffinger, 1981). The conjunction of these two criteria leads to creativity. Videogames offer the opportunity to be creative, to bring ideas and imagination to life in an interactive world, create different levels, characters or items and use tools to modify game content.
Since 2010, gamification has become a teaching methodology: how to apply the dynamics of video games to stimulate learning at school.
Studies show that translating educational, promotional or propaganda objectives through exciting challenges, on the model of video games, therefore through the awarding of progress badges and the visibility of performance graphs, satisfies the need for competence and increases the perceived significance of the task[ 1].
The term “gamification” appears to have been coined in 2002 by developer Nick Pelling, founder of an in-game advertising start-up. Later, in 2008, the then Senior Director Corporate Development of the gaming company Zynga, Bret Terrill, defined “gamification” as: “Taking the mechanics of games and applying them to other web properties to increase engagement”.
At school, “Gamification” does not mean “making the lesson playful”, rather it means applying elements of video games in teaching, to stimulate the learning of traditional subjects.
According to Jane McGonigal (known game designer, author of the book “Reality at Play” and former director of Games Research and Development in California) video games are able to bring out the best in us. Rather than distracting us from our goals, he says, they help us realise them. Video games are able to stimulate motivation, interest, creativity, a sense of belonging and happiness, feelings that translate into resources that can be immediately spent in daily activities.
Indeed, it has been shown that American soldiers returning from Afghanistan who played three to four hours of Halo or Call of Duty were less likely to suffer from post-traumatic neurosis and to commit acts of domestic violence or suicide. In short, according to the game designer, if we translated every daily task, from household cleaning to learning, framing it within the patterns and rules typical of video games, we could complete it with greater motivation, thus obtaining better results. Games and creativity activities in the workplace are like secret weapons disguised as fun and games.
They infuse some playfulness into the daily routine and rekindle the spirit of innovation within teams. When your colleagues come together during creativity workshops, they embark on an adventure that unleashes their imaginations and unlocks a treasure trove of new ideas.
These games create a magical space where barriers are broken, unconventional thinking reigns supreme, and the extraordinary becomes the norm (ex. creative problem solving, role playing..)
This stimulates creativity, imagination and the ability to think outside the box. There are many different roles in the game industry, across a host of disciplines and it is possible to find 2 different kinds of skills focused: creative and design.
These types of games industry jobs focus on things like the visual elements of games. For those with some creative flair and love for video games, for example:
Video game design jobs are also fairly varied. Some focus on the overall concepts of games, while others are more technical or hands-on, for example:
Making video games is a complex job that may require the use of techniques and exercises to work on creativity as a key skill in this sector.
The first step in video game concepting is brainstorming game ideas. This involves coming up with a general theme or concept, and then generating more specific ideas that fit within that theme.
Brainstorming is a classic creative technique for generating new ideas quickly, to explore visual styles, dream up new characters, worlds, or even the levels you’re planning. It’s best thought of as a way to light up our imagination.
As ancient philosopher Plutarch said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
Brainstorming is a technique for generating creative ideas in a collaborative and uncritical way. It can be very effective in generating fresh and innovative ideas for video games. It is important to create an atmosphere of trust and respect so that all team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas.
What’s the central idea or concept for your game? This is your starting point. It might be just a rough idea at the moment or a topic that you want to explore, but this process will help you see how far you can take it.
The first step is to describe the concept of your game and then it is useful to invite others to brainstorm with you and write out the themes related to the first idea.
Next step it’s invite others to brainstorm with you. They don’t have to be the people who will execute on the ideas but rather a diverse mix of thinkers. Brainstorming online means they can contribute from anywhere.
Now it’s time to get creative. Start adding any ideas that relate to your main concept. Think about different parts of your story, game plan and animation styles you could use, characters, or even the history of your topic. It is possible to explore every thread until you fill the board.
Sometimes it’s easier to communicate an idea with an image, especially if it’s a mood or style you’re trying to express. Images can define things like character style, font choices, colours, scenes, and more. Once you’ve explored tangents and shared feedback, the next step is to make connections. This is where you see the magic of brainstorming.
Start by grouping similar ideas to uncover patterns in your thinking.
Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity. Design thinking is a methodology that focuses on understanding user needs and designing creative solutions to meet them. Applying this methodology to the creation of video games can help generate ideas that respond to the needs and desires of players.
It has five different stages that are non-linear in nature: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and test.
Empathising
Empathising comes almost naturally in a game development environment. We all have invariably come across that over enthusiastic guy in the office who almost flings his backpack and goes gung-ho with his fresh new game idea, first thing in the morning. Whether that ideas sees the light of the day or not is quite another story but the fact that someone else shares the same feelings and emotions with him about his brand new idea is more than a trophy to him.
The missing piece
Most of those ideas often get rogered at the CEO or Exec. Producer’s desk saying that it would take a humongous effort to bring them to life and what is the guarantee that they would be commercially viable.
Design Thinking encourages you to talk to many such players who you think the game is meant for and breathe with them in the same rhythm. Feel what they exactly feel about your idea.
Reframe or Define
If you are really passionate about taking your idea ahead, you need to be willing to reframe your idea by seeing it end-to-end through the eyes of your players. When you change the way you look at things based on your target audience, things start changing for good.
Ideating or Brainstorming
This phase is my personal favourite. I call it rapid fire round for ideas where quantity is much more important than quality.
Often the craziest ideas in this phase go on to make big news amongst abide gamers. Hence one cannot shoot down any idea saying it is absurd or unworthy, more so in the early stages where the roots are just starting to hold the soil tight enough.
However there is a method to this madness. One needs to make sure that the outcomes are documented and circulated amongst all stakeholders right after a brainstorming session.
Prototyping
It’s all about taking your idea out and making it tangible and feasible. Folks often like to call it a low version of your game idea which means a crude form of core gameplay presented to the target audience in a way that they can interact with it and start giving feedback early on.
Test
This is a stage where the rubber meets the road but in a bare bone form. At this stage you take your idea to potential players to get their feedback. This helps in incremental development and fleshing out a more graceful output at the end of every round.
Visual thinking is the phenomenon of cognition through visual processing. Visual thinking is often described as seeing words as a series of pictures.
Nearly 60 percent of people learn best through visualisations. For these types of learners, a visual image can yield a much more powerful and memorable learning experience than spoken words or written text.
Visual thinking refers to a way for learners to externalise their internal thinking processes, making them more explicit and actionable. It can also be a way to organise thoughts and improve on critical thinking and communication skills.
Visual thinking plays a significant role in fostering creativity and innovation.
By incorporating visual thinking techniques into brainstorming and ideation processes, individuals and teams can more effectively generate, explore, and refine ideas. In this article, we will discuss how visual thinking can enhance brainstorming and ideation, leading to more innovative solutions and improved decision-making.
So Visual thinking is a skill that allows ideas and concepts to be represented visually and creatively. Game developers can use this skill to create sketches and prototypes to help them visualise their ideas and experiment with different concepts.
Role-playing is a technique that allows team members to put themselves in the shoes of the users or characters in the game to better understand their needs and behaviours.
It can help to generate creative ideas and create more realistic characters and situations.
A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which each participant assumes the role of a character that can interact within the game’s imaginary world. Many RPGs are set in fantasy or science fiction environments.
Among the earliest and most popular RPGs are Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), BattleTech, and Star Wars Galaxies. Most RPGs are played online or digitally, making them part of the electronic game genre.
RPGs are often called video games.
RPGs usually have a storyline and central quest players, or “gamers,” aim to complete, adopting the role of a fictional character in the imaginary RPG world.
Some RPGs also include additional side quests that may or may not be optional.
These side quests let gamers gain more experience in the game and improve their character’s attributes and abilities.
Active learning is a pedagogical method that focuses the responsibility of learning on learners. They engage in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content.
Cooperative learning, problem-based learning, and the use of case methods and simulations are some approaches that promote active learning. Serious games design can provide a framework to support confirmation, structured, and guided inquiry.
There is a convergence between the core elements of a good serious game design and the characteristics of productive learning.
Another link between games and learning is formative feedback as a critical part of any learning effort and a key component in game design that adjusts challenges.
Active learning means learning by doing, experimenting and problem-solving. Game developers can apply this technique in game creation, allowing players to experiment with different mechanics and solutions to solve game challenges.
Lateral thinking (horizontal thinking) is a form of ideation where designers approach problems by using reasoning that is disruptive or not immediately obvious. They use indirect and creative methods to think outside the box and see problems from radically new angles, gaining insights to help find innovative solutions. Many problems (e.g., mathematical ones) require the vertical, analytical, step-by-step approach we’re so familiar with.
Called linear thinking, it’s based on logic, existing solutions and experience: You know where to start and what to do to reach a solution, like following a recipe. However, many design problems—particularly, wicked problems—are too complex for this critical path of reasoning. They may have several potential solutions.
Also, they won’t offer clues; unless we realize our way of thinking is usually locked into a tight space and we need a completely different approach. Lateral thinking is a skill that allows for finding creative solutions to complex problems by exploring different perspectives and points of view. Game developers can apply this skill to create games with novel and surprising mechanics.
Lateral thinking is a valuable skill. It’s a problem-solving approach that stresses creative thinking. Unlike traditional linear thinking, it’s about exploring diverse ideas. You can hone this skill through practice, challenging assumptions, making unexpected connections, and approaching problems from fresh angles.
2.7 – Collective creativity
It is an approach of creative activity that emerges from the collaboration and contribution of many individuals so that new forms of innovative and expressive art forms are produced collectively by individuals connected by the network.
Collective creativity occurs when social interactions lead to new interpretations and discoveries which individual thinking could not have generated.
Collective creativity: Working as a team to generate creative ideas and solutions.
Game developers can apply this skill to create games that combine the ideas and perspectives of different team members, which can result in more innovative and engaging games for players.
Collective Creativity combines complex and ambivalent concepts.
While ‘creativity’ is currently experiencing an inflationary boom in popularity, the term ‘collective’ appeared, until recently, rather controversial due to its ideological implications in twentieth-century politics.
In a world defined by global cultural practice, the notion of collectivity has gained new relevance. In opposition to the traditional ideal of the individual as creative genius, cultural theorists today emphasise the collaborative nature of creativity; they show that ‘creativity makes alterity, discontinuity and difference attractive.
Collective creativity occurs when bisociation is shared by two or more people. We are beginning to see that collective creativity can be very powerful and can lead to more culturally relevant results than individual creativity does.
Conflict is a normal part of any healthy relationship. After all, two people can’t be expected to agree on everything, all the time. The key is not to fear or try to avoid conflict but to learn how to resolve it in a healthy way. When conflict is mismanaged, it can cause great harm to a relationship, but when handled in a respectful, positive way, conflict provides an opportunity to strengthen the bond between two people.
Conflict triggers strong emotions and can lead to hurt feelings, disappointment, and discomfort. When handled in an unhealthy manner, it can cause irreparable rifts, resentments, and break-ups. But when conflict is resolved in a healthy way, it increases your understanding of the other person, builds trust, and strengthens your relationships.
Conflict resolution skills are the skills that enable a person to quickly, respectfully, and effectively resolve conflict.
Conflict resolution skills involve the use of various additional important skills such as assertiveness, active listening, problem-solving, empathy, and effective communication.
The ability to successfully resolve conflict depends on your ability to:
To successfully resolve a conflict, you need to learn and practice two core skills:
So conflict resolution skills are really needed in multidisciplinary teams. Active listening, clear and concise communication avoiding confusion, empathy, collaboration in finding a joint solution, commitment and flexibility of all parties involved in emotional management.