Abstract:

This contribution illustrates the results of a Pathway for Transversal Skills and Orientation (PCTO) coordinated by the Department of Architecture and Design at the Politecnico di Torino. The program is part of the catalog of activities offered by the Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture to high school students as an educational experience designed to support an informed choice regarding their future academic career.

The course, titled “Playful ReDesign & Game ReDesign: Analysis, Ideation, Prototyping, and Game Strategy,” was presented—using a consistent methodology and specifically tailored timelines—to two different target groups of students in their third and fourth years of high school. The first was a nearly homogeneous group consisting of two full classes from the same institution, while the second was a heterogeneous group of students from various schools. This structured approach enabled a comparative analysis of the results, providing valuable insights for the planning of future editions.

By exploring the link between the morphology of game objects and the rules that govern them through the tools and methods of Representation, the educational objective was to stimulate critical reflection on how the geometry of game components influences dynamics and interaction possibilities.

The adopted methodology followed a linear yet iterative path, starting from the analysis of existing games and leading to design experiments conducted by the students. In the initial phase, the faculty presented two case studies: the Rubik’s Cube and Jenga. Regarding the Rubik’s Cube, the analysis focused on the distinction between the mathematical logic of the rules (which remains constant across versions) and the variation in solving algorithms necessitated by different geometric decompositions of the volume. For Jenga, the challenge shifted to the analysis of piece stability and friction. Unconventional variants (featuring non-rectangular sections) were proposed, demonstrating how modifying the section of a single piece can constrain the game by either increasing instability or introducing mandatory directions for extraction and placement.

This analytical phase served as the foundation for the students' own designs, which ranged from variations in form to modifications of the rules. To foster autonomy in the “maker-design” process, simplified 3D modeling tools and basic notions of digital fabrication were introduced. The use of an FDM printer provided a moment of empirical verification for the construction tolerances of their games, transforming abstract concepts into testable physical artifacts.

The pathway concluded with a collective play day, during which students tested and exchanged their prototypes and evaluated them through a questionnaire. This validation phase made it possible to observe the consequences of the geometric choices made during the design phase, as well as the clarity of the rules and gameplay. The results indicate that an approach based on Gamification methodologies combined with Representation can facilitate the acquisition of technical modeling skills and, above all, develop lateral thinking for an intuitive understanding of descriptive geometry.

Keywords:

Game-based Learning, Project-based Learning, Geometry, Prototyping.