The Tale of the ADHD Dinosaur
Highlight for students the three ways that games can say “mean” something:
- Through the game’s core dynamic. verbs or mechanics (what you do)
- Through the game’s rules (what happens when you do different things)
- Through the game’s theme or setting (the goal, where the game happens, happens, the story, the characters you play or encounter, and so on.)
Point out that these three are not really separate: people will play games with identical rules and mechanics differently if they’re presented with a different theme or setting.
For example, people playing the “Prisoner’s Dilemma,” in which players have to decide whether to collaborate with or betray others, are more likely to collaborate if it’s called the Community Game and less likely if it’s called the Wall Street Game.
Now have students access the student chapter The ADHD Dinosaur and answer the questions.
There are two versions of this student chapter.
The first version links to a playable version of the game. The game typically takes about five minutes to play, and students do not have to play the full game to be able to answer the questions.
The second version links to a playthrough video of the game.
Take up the questions with the class:
(Throughout, highlight to students that the game is a representation of Julien Poulton’s experiences , not necessarily the experiences of everyone with ADHD.