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Code Crew G3 / Week 12 / Monday
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Week 12 · Computational Thinking

Monday

// Design your board game

Monday: Pick the Theme

"Let's build a board game!" Rocket shouts. He grabs a marker and starts drawing right away.

Raven gently stops him. "First, what is the game about? And what are players trying to do?"

Nova hovers over the paper. "Remember last week. Big jobs break into small ones," she hints. Let's pick a theme and list the parts of the game.

This week you DESIGN a board game using everything you learned.

First, pick a theme. (Space? Pets? Pizza chefs? Underwater spies?)

Theme: ____________________________________
What players are trying to do (the GOAL): __________________________
Number of players: ____
About how long a game lasts: ____ minutes

Decompose the project (Week 11!)

Break GAME into at least 5 subtasks.

• board
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________
• _______________

Plan Like a Game Designer

A game designer can break a game into parts first. The list names every part the game needs.

Then they pick which part to build first.

GAME PARTS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Which part does every board game need?
Your theme is space. Which game piece fits best?
A game has 4 players. Each needs 1 piece. How many pieces?
What is a theme?
StatementTrue or false?
A theme is the big idea of a game.?
A game plan can be split into small parts.?
You must build every part at the same time.?
Rules tell players what they may do.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEEvery big project starts with a plan of small parts.
Your game has 5 parts. You finish 2. How many parts are left?
A board has 6 rows of 5 squares. How many squares?
Each player gets 3 cards. There are 4 players. How many cards?
ORDER THE GAME BUILD
  • ?Pick a theme
  • ?Design the board
  • ?Decompose the game into parts
  • ?Playtest with a partner
  • ?Write the rules
WHY THIS EXERCISEA good build order means each part is ready when the next part needs it.
Try it
Look at a board game you have at home.
Name its parts: board, pieces, cards and rules.
Which part would you change in your own game?

Quick Check

Splitting GAME into a board, pieces, rules and cards uses which Week 11 skill? ____
WHY THIS EXERCISEProgrammers often break a big project into parts first. Then a team can build one piece at a time.