Some thoughts on how the concept of theorycrafting can be expanded and used in educational contexts

1. From Chaos to Structure
Theorycrafting as a playful method to engage Critical
Thinking
Autenrieth/Wechselberger for RACT15

2. Kelvin Autenrieth
M.A. Logic and Theory of Science
Leipzig, Germany
Independant Researcher, Game
Designer and Lecturer
Experimental Game Design, Game
Analytics, Game Mechanics,
Philosophy of Games
autenrieth@edu-gaming.de
About Us
Ulrich
Wechselberger
PhD in Educational Science
Koblenz, Germany
Institute for Web Science and
Technologies
Gamification,
E-Learning/Blended Learning,
Serious Games
wechselberger@uni-koblenz.de

3. How to support critical thinking
with video games?

4. intrinsic and
utilitarian value
How to support critical thinking
with video games?

5. How to support critical thinking
with video games?
intrinsic and
utilitarian value
engaging and
effective

6. Games can be unique Teaching
Tools

7. Games can be unique Teaching
Tools
World of Warcraft (2005)

8. Games can be unique Teaching
Tools
World of Warcraft (2005)

9. Games can be unique
Motivating Tools

10. Being in flow
Csikszentmihalyi 1990

11. But sorry,
There is no formula to harness the
power of games for education =(

12. Two Types of Games and
Challenges

13. Psychomotoric Skills
Hand-eye-coordination
Reflexes
Sensual awareness
Timing
Accuracy
Call of Duty 4 (2007)Flappy Bird (2013)
Guitar Hero 3 (2007)

14. Cognitive Skills
Resources management
Problem solving
Deliberated planning
Decision making
Information acquisition
Pattern recognition
Logical thinking
Civilization 5 (2010) Monkey Island (1990)
Antichamber (2013)

15. Theorycrafting (1)
 Derives from the game Starcraft and Game Theory
 “By using statistical analysis and mathematical
modeling, theorycrafters seek out the underlying
formulae that govern [a game], largely in an attempt to
play [a game] better.” (Paul 2011)

16. Comparing Two Different Weapons

17. Detailed Efficiency Analysis

18. Calculating Predictions through
Probability Distributions

19. Schell 2008
 To build a viable strategy, a player must
know the (underlying) game rules

20. Schell 2008
 To build a viable strategy, a player must
know the (underlying) game rules
 Explicit Information is what you know
FIFA 15 (2014)

21. Schell 2008
 To build a viable strategy, a player must
know the (underlying) game rules
 Explicit Information is what you know
 Implicit Information is what the game knows

22.  To build a viable strategy, a player must
know the (underlying) game rules
 Explicit Information is what you know
 Implicit Information is what the game knows
How can we
get this
information?
Super Mario Bros. (1985)

23. Theorycrafting (2)
 Derives from crafting (creating) a theory (model) of the
game world
 Theorycrafting is playful experimentation in order to get
an understanding of the underlying rules to build a model
of a game

24. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
 Clues
 Inconsistent rule model

25. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
 Clues
 Inconsistent rule model
Deus Ex (2011)

26. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
 Clues
 Inconsistent rule model
 FAIL

27. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
2. Questioning
 Why does my theory not apply anymore?
 Are there any hidden rules I don’t know about?
 Did I overlook something?

28. 1. Entering thinking mode
2. Questioning
3. Observating, analyzing, experimenting
 Try to find a possible solution
 Replaying and testing ideas
Doing Theorycraft

29. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
2. Questioning
3. Observation, analyzing, Experimenting
4. Hypothesis building
 If A, then B
 A causes B
 Doing A results in B

30. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
2. Questioning
3. Observating, Analyzing, Experimenting
4. Hypothesis building
5. Hypothesis Testing
 Setup test scenario
 Controlling the external variance
 Verification or falsification of the hypothesis

31. Doing Theorycraft
1. Entering thinking mode
2. Questioning
3. Observating, Analyzing, Experimenting
4. Hypothesis building
5. Hypothesis Testing

32. Instructional Teaching with Theorycrafting
1. Find out as many rules of the game as possible and
answer the following questions
 How are the different variables interlocked?
 Could anything else have caused the effect I just observed?
 Based on your findings, what are fruitful strategies?
 If you encounter unpredictable effects, can they be tied to specific
causes?
2. Debate about the models found (relations, consistency,
dependencies)
3. Try to find a real-life phenomena that can be analyzed
with these strategies

33. What is the movement pattern of the
ghosts?
Pac-Man (1980)

34. What are the consequences of the actions?
What determines the resource generation?
A dark room (2013)

35. Make the fan move and the display
show an 8
Designed with LogicLab

36. Open Questions and Challenges
 Is the method transferable into real life
situations/examples?
 Can these special situations adapted for an educational
setting?
 Can we transfer the playful approach of theorycrafting to
(in-)formal learning environments?
 Theorycrafting as a playful way to teach the scientific
method?
 Lacking heavily in research and theories

37. Literature
Gee, J. P. (2008): Good video games + good learning. Collected essays on video games, learning,
and literacy. Lang, New York.
Paul, C. A. (2011): Optimizing Play: How Theorycraft Changes Gameplay and Design.
Online: http://gamestudies.org/1102/articles/paul.
Schell, J. (2008): The art of game design. A book of lenses. Amsterdam.
Sykes, J. (2006): Affective Gaming: Advancing the Argument for Game-Based Learning, in: Pivec,
M. (ed.). Affective and Emotional Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction. IOS Press, Amsterdam,
p. 3–7.