Scrap Mechanic – An Engineering Sandbox of Fun

Years ago, a growing buzz in my social feed and from students kept pushing me to explore a retro-looking sandbox building game.  I ignored it as long as I could, but finally caved and tried the game.  The game was Minecraft and it had huge implications for learning.

scrapmWell, history repeats itself, though this time with considerably less resistance on my part.  Once again, my radar is getting pinged from different sources about a new game called Scrap Mechanic.  First, I’m seeing the amazing Adam Clark (aka WizardKeen) posting Let’s Play videos with the game.  Then, one of our district media coordinators contacted me saying that her son wanted to buy it and wondering if I knew anything about it.  So, I did the responsible thing… I bought it myself!  Check out the game trailer below:

After just a few moment of game play, I’m hooked and my kids are begging to play.  The game is still in an early release stage (beta), but it already seems very polished with nice graphics and ambient sounds.  The controls are intuitive and there’s a super-helpful in-game player guide reminiscent of LEGO building manuals to help you get started with your first creations.

There’s a great deal of learning potential, here, too.  The main idea of the experience, so far, is building structures and machines.  Building structures is relatively familiar territory, but the real fun is in machine building.  Unlike other sandbox games, physics plays a big role in Scrap Mechanic.  There’s gravity and other forces at work.  With engines, wheels, thrusters, and bearings, players can create everything from gas-powered cars to rocket-powered flying saucers, or if you’re so inclined, a rocket-powered flying saucer car.  Maybe you want to build a catapult to launch your friends across the world or build a transforming tree house.  These are just a few examples among many out there on YouTube.

sm-femaleCreative tinkering and trial-and-error exploration are hallmarks of the game play and those are just a couple of the reasons Scrap Mechanic has huge implications for learning.  This is a fantastic, digital maker space!  This would be a welcome addition to classrooms and media centers looking for an alternative digital space to encourage students’ creativity.  Either turn your learners loose and let them follow their own interests, or give them a challenge to help them get started!  Build a vehicle that can transport three or more crates from your shop to the warehouse.  Create a stable, rocket-powered car.  Design a machine that will fling your friends the farthest.  There are so many possibilities.  As they design students will have to wrestle with engineering challenges.  “How can I add weight to make this vehicle more stable?”  “To what angle should I set this bearing to maximize the reach of my lift arm?”

Check out this video of a group of YouTubers who’ve challenged each other to build machines to throw their friends across the map (mild language warning):

Again, this game’s in early release and the developers have more in store prior to the official launch.  You can currently purchase this game through Steam for $20 USD and it’s worth it.  I already have school media centers asking for it to use as a center for their school maker spaces which is really exciting.

Keep an eye on this one!

-Lucas

 

 

Minecraft in School? Yes!

Characters in MinecraftYes, I know I’m late to this game.  How did I miss it?  About a month ago, I started noticing Minecraft popping up in education technology discussions.  I’d heard of the game before and after a very cursory glance dismissed it.  This growing buzz I began to hear, though, got me asking around.  Of course, who had answers to my questions?  Students!  One even said, “Here’s my account info, try it out.”  So I did.

Within 20 minutes of game play, I’d shelled out the $20 to buy my own account.  There is something incredibly compelling about this game.  Don’t let the funny 8-bit-looking graphics fool you.  There’s more here than meets the eye. …much more.  Why?  Because this is a true sandbox game.  A sandbox game is a virtual world that allows free-roaming with almost no artificial barriers.  On top of this, this is a building/creating game.  Yes, punching trees for wood may seem silly at first, but then you find that you can construct things with the materials you’re collecting.  A few pieces of wood yield planks, four of these planks yield a crafting  table. And from there, a world of building potential is opened up. Within an hour or so of play, I’d constructed a makeshift castle and had begun to dig deep underground to find iron, coal, and other resources to build a variety of tools.

So, what do I, the educator-gamer do next?  Of course I put on my teacher glasses and begin to ask, “How could I use this with students?”  Immediately the ideas begin to come to mind.  Here are a few of my early brainstorms:

  • Give students login information and have them all log into a school-hosted multiplayer server (Yes, you can host your own private server).  Tell them they have arrived on a deserted(?) island (think Lost, maybe?).  They need to work together to build a society.  Who will gather resources?  Who will build?  Who will plan?  How will they feed themselves?  How will they defend themselves from the skeletons/creepers at night (though these villains could be turned off as a feature).  The key here is to have them plan and write all of this based on their in-world experiences.
  • Have students journal daily life on their island as though they were a real person in a real place.  Imagine… “Day 1 – Not sure how I got here.  Haven’t seen another person.  All was fine until nightfall.  I began to hear a groaning sound in the forest and that’s when I saw the zombies.  Now I’m holed up in a cave hoping they go away.”
  • Have students think of a real-world machine and attempt to recreate it in their Minecraft world.  People have even made basic computers out of Minecraft materials.  Yes, it can be that complex.  You can craft circuits with basic logic functions out a material called redstone.  Players have built working rail stations, musical instruments, and more.

Of course the multiplayer potential for the game opens up lots of collaborative opportunity.  Imagine different classes working together to build something, different grade levels, or even students from schools in two different parts of the world!

Other folks are talking about this game’s potential as well.  Check out Bryan Alexander‘s posts on the topic.  John McLear has a nice post on the topic as well.  Also, check out this interesting discussion on the same topic at Minecraft Forums.

Some of the principals in my district have asked me for ideas for a project similar to the WoWinSchool Project for earlier grades, either as an elective or a club.  I think Minecraft would be suitable for 4th through 8th graders (many high schoolers would certainly enjoy it too, though).  What are you thoughts?  Let’s here them!

-Lucas