Problem Statement

In order to establish an essential experience, I first needed to understand my problem.

‘Before you start coming up with ideas, you need to be certain of why you are doing it, and a problem statement is a way to state that clearly.’ Schell, Jesse. The Art of Game Design : A Book of Lenses

To do this, I created a brainstorm of multiple potential problem statements. These, just as Schell expresses, ensures that I am aware of what I intend to create, as well as why I want to create it. Schell also stresses that “it is crucial that you get the problem statement right”. This is why I produced several versions so that I could select the most appropriate choice for this project.

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Additionally, Schell states that effective "problem statements tell both your goal and your constraints". In order to identify the good vs bad statements that I had written down, I took two different colours and highlighted the parts that satisfied the goal and constraint requirements. Some of the ideas didn't include one or the other, which I ruled out as options first.

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After reading over the remaining selection, I decided on: ‘How can I take the methods and teachings of CBAT and translate them into a game?’. To develop further, I made a few drafts to see if there were any preferable alternatives.

  1. How can I make a game out of the methods and teaching of CBAT?
  2. How can the methods and teachings of CBAT be used in a game?
  3. How can I gamify the methods and teachings of CBAT?
  4. How can the methods and teachings of CBAT be turned into game elements?
  5. How can I use the methods and teachings of CBAT in the context of a game targeted to 8-15 year olds?

From exploring further options, I have chosen to use the revised version of ‘How can the methods and teachings of CBAT be used in a game?’ as my final problem statement. I think this has a good balance between not being too broad so that my design goals will still be reachable, and not being too narrow as it doesn’t assume any particular solutions. Here my limitation is the format of a game, and my aim is to use the methods and teachings of CBAT within that platform.

Solving The Problem

Important things to consider: