On the 19^th March 2025, Brunel University organised a Game Design taster workshop at Bushey Meads School. The purpose of this workshop is to encourage Year 9 students to have a glimpse of how to design a computer game.

The persons who delivered the workshop were lecturers from Brunel University, Jasmine and Bradley. Bradley compared two different games and explained why one was sold exceedingly well compared to the other and he went on to emphasize the importance of game design prior to the making of a computer game.

Year 9 students learned how to design a computer game by going through a series of prompt cards: character, action, theme and genre. They had to design a game by following the prompt cards in the following sequence:

1)   Character prompt card – Use this card for their main character. Think about their life: Where do they live? What do they do? What kind of character are they?

2)   Action prompt card – These determine actions for your character. How does the action link to the gameplay?

3)   Theme prompt card – Gives you a focused idea for your plot. A good plot needs conflict, what conflict could you add? Is this the goal of the game?

4)   Genre prompt card – A good plot needs conflict, what conflict could you add? Is this the goal of the game? What Genre have you got? Does this change the type of game you are designing?

They were then put into groups and start their design. At the end of the workshop, all the groups had drawn their main characters, stated some actions that their characters pose, described the theme of their game e.g finding treasures and finally, the genre e.g fun game, eliminate arrogant pirates.

The Year 9 student seems to enjoy the workshop and they also displayed excellent behaviour throughout the workshop. I am glad that the students had experienced what game design entails.

On behalf of the Bushey Meads School, we thank Mr Gary Johnson for liaison with Brunel University and thank Jasmine and Bradley for delivering such a useful and educational workshop.