United Colonies

Organization: GameDesk
Role: Learning design, game design
Period: 2012–2013

Overview and Problem

During curriculum development for the PlayMaker School, we got really interested in immersive, live experiences like live-action role-playing (LARPing) and alternate reality games (ARGs). Our goal was to create semester-long learning experiences that were deeply immersive. We also wanted to embed cross-curricular content into student-driven activities that required higher-order thinking and collaboration.

We ended up creating several LARP experiences, but just one ARG experience. I was tasked with leading the learning design and implementation of this ARG project, turning the freeform nature of an ARG into a coherent educational experience. There was also the additional challenge of running the ARG alongside a typical sixth-grade classroom.

Process and Solution

I partnered with award-winning designer Mike Minadeo to conceptualize, design, and run an ARG we called United Colonies. Mike, who was a key source of inspiration for ARGs at GameDesk, served as the Creative Director, focusing on game design and production. My primary role, as the sole GameDesk contributor, was to align game design with the school’s learning goals. I was responsible for:

Leading the learning design to ensure the game met curriculum goals
Creating all video and web-based content for the game
Advising on game design and mechanics
Collaborating on the game structure, schedule, implementation, and logistics

A coded message and alphabet key on brown paper, with two pens above it. — A coded message and cipher key.

Hands holding a pen wrapped in coded symbols, with small wooden stamps on the table. — Mike creating Caesar cipher pens.

A paper strip with multicolored symbols beside a broken stone on soil and leaves. — A clue hidden outside within a rock that students break open.

A United Colonies poster filled with rows of planet symbols, codes, and the words Good Luck Cadets. — The planet puzzle poster that was hung inside the school.

Two photos of the same deck of cards; when the cards are arranged properly, a message appears. — A deck of cards puzzle: when the cards are arranged properly, a message appears.

A game-planning table with columns for trail, puzzle, solution, transition, and date. — Our planning document, mapping the phases of the game, puzzles, and solutions.

Results and Impact

The project exceeded our wildest expectations and set a new template for immersive, game-based K-12 education.

The student participants were so engaged that they created and ran their own ARG—entirely independently—for the next class of students the following year
To date, United Colonies remains one of the most extensive K-12 ARGs ever executed and is especially notable for the documentary evidence of its impact on students and their ownership of learning

Students seated at tables in the PlayMaker classroom, with laptops and project materials. — The PlayMaker classroom where some of the game was played.

A chalk drawing of an eye inside a geometric pattern on the pavement. — A chalk symbol on the school grounds.

A red arrow on the pavement pointing toward a wheeled outdoor bin. — An arrow marking a clue location.

Selected Press Coverage

How to Transform The Odyssey into an Epic Game in Alternate Reality KQED's MindShift

Selected Presentations

2013 ARGFest
2014 Serious Play Conference