Games as an Artistic Medium: Investigating Complexity Thinking in Game-Based Art Pedagogy

This action research study examines the making of video games, using an integrated development environment software program called GameMaker, as art education curriculum for students between the ages of 8-13. Through a method I designed, students created video games using the concepts of move, avoid, release, and contact (MARC) to explore their understanding of complexity thinking. From this process of making games, students learned systems, deconstructing systems, and reconstructing systems using game-based art pedagogy. The findings of this study indicate that creating games expands the content of making in art education by being inclusive of the personal worlds and lives of students. Using the concept of MARC encourages students to think about the complexity of systems and how they work, identifying meaningful associations between students’ understanding of their worlds and games.