
Game Logic: Level Up and Create Your Own Games with Science Activities for Kids
What was the last game you played? Video game, board game, world building game?
In Game Logic: Level Up and Create Your Own Games with Science Activities for Kids, middle schoolers take on the world of games by figuring out what makes them challenging, fun, and addictive! Kids love games. Board games are still wildly popular, despite the profusion of video gaming devices that reach audiences as young as toddlerhood. World-building games such as Settlers of Catan and Dungeons & Dragons are played by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, both
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Always In The Middle
“. . . This new book by Angie Smibert features six chapters covering the past, present, and future of games. Each of the chapters begins with an essential question, encouraging kids to develop both their critical and creative thinking skills. Like other books in the BUILD IT YOURSELF series, QR codes take you to primary sources and a frequent WORDS TO KNOW box defines challenging vocabulary. . . After my initial reading of the 122 pages, I was motivated to search for some of the modern board games covered here like TICKET TO RIDE. For young readers, the ideas and projects are perfect to keep those Summer brains churning. The volume would also work well in the classroom this Fall. Don’t bother rolling the dice because GAME LOGIC is available now for all game lovers.” Read more online.
Matt Leacock, designer of Pandemic
“Game Logic gives kids a robust foundation for learning how to create modern, tabletop games. Its sections on the history of games, the psychology of play, and the included exercises really set it apart.”
Carrie Harris, Evil Hat Games
“Ready your dice and your meeples for this excellent guide to everything in board games!”
Praise for Video Games: Design and Code Your Own Adventure with 17 Projects
A Best of the Best selection - 2016 Kansas State Reading Circle
Booklist
“This appealing offering should prove to be a popular addition to STEAM collections.”
Teacher Resources

Classroom Guides
For educators! Download a packet of essential questions, mentor texts, and Common Core State Standards to use in classrooms and libraries.
Classroom GuideDetailed Book Description
What was the last game you played? Video game, board game, world building game?
In Game Logic: Level Up and Create Your Own Games with Science Activities for Kids, middle schoolers take on the world of games by figuring out what makes them challenging, fun, and addictive! Kids love games. Board games are still wildly popular, despite the profusion of video gaming devices that reach audiences as young as toddlerhood. World-building games such as Settlers of Catan and Dungeons & Dragons are played by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, both online and in living rooms, and gaming conferences occur around the globe, including hundreds in the United States alone. This makes gaming a perfect backdrop for learning new skills!
This book takes kids on a journey to discover the history of games, and then leads them from their initial idea for a new game through several iterations of a game all the way to playing the final version of a game they created. Educators use games as a way to introduce logic, collaboration, and persistence in classrooms, and Game Logic is the perfect companion. Kids explore the processes of both playing and creating games while developing critical and creative thinking skills that apply to tasks and concepts across academic fields.
Game Logic includes hands-on STEAM activities and critical thinking exercises related to games. Fun facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions encourage readers to dive deeper into the games they love to discover what makes them tick.
Try these hands-on STEAM projects!
- Research an ancient game
- Analyze different types of games—roleplaying, tabletop, video
- Build a prototype and playtest it with friends
- Design a new game
Hardcover, $22.95 9781619308022 |
Paperback, $17.95 9781619308053 |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Timeline
Introduction
What Is a Game?
Chapter 1
Even Paraohs Loved Board Games
Chapter 2
Modern Game Changers
Chapter 3
Your Brain on Games
Chapter 4
Game Design
Chapter 5
Game Development and Beyond
Chapter 6
The Future of Games
Glossary
Metric Conversions
Resources
Essential Questions
Index