I was approached by an NEF Education Foundation board member to develop an app or web game for the national annual Block Kids engineering competition in which grade school children create non-organic structures with building blocks.

An app could be extremely effective for the program, both to increase pre-event excitement and to encourage additional learning beyond the event!

Also, they can bring something, printed out from the app or shown on the screen, to the event that helps them role-play while at the competition. And this would be great for pre-registration, demographics, user analytics, etc.

A tablet or web interface would be best and I would like to build off any lessons that are presented by the organization during the competition [I found many were hosted at local schools or libraries].

 

I think it is important that they are not just playing a character in a game, but connect the app/game to an element of gameplay. With that in mind, they should build a simple avatar in game used to represent their ID card, not a third person player icon — “I am a certified Block Engineer. Here’s my ID and certificate.” The game labels ‘blueprints’ with the player’s name: “Ada’s Bridge” etc.

The app would include digital building blocks [Mine Craft and Lego games prove this will be well received]. But while this will use building blocks, the focus is not a game simply built with blocks. The focus is what fun and interaction can be created specifically through the blocks.

To encourage CAD and building education, use the standard of 3D camera views that they can switch between.

The app will give ideas about basic things that could be built in the Block Workshop, and uses for those things.

You have a list of Blueprints. The ones you do not own will be grayed out. The ones you do, show you how to build an item in your Workshop. If you actually build it, you get a Star border on it to indicate it is Complete.

The app gives learning information such as an introduction to measuring and defines simple building terms / vocabulary.

Use the vocabulary as a part of a matching/sorting game which helps the player collect blocks to use in their designs/builds. You can still only use 100 blocks at a time, but you have to select the color and block from you collection, so you play the mini-game to get 100 of each of five colors [this would take quite some time!]. This is not mandatory to build and play, but some players will like having all the options. Sometimes you can win a Blueprint instead of a Block.

You have a mini-game where they see an item [visual and with written name] and you sort it into one of two or three groups [drag & drop]:

A Ruler –>  Toolbox OR Building Materials