Copyright (C) 2010 WEAAM

Design Document for:

Letter Game
ESL enhanced game

All work Copyright ©2010 by Weaam Almuzain

Written by
Weaam Almuzain

Version # 1.00

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Wednesday, November 03, 2010 Table of Contents

LETTER GAME_______________________________________________________________________1

DESIGN HISTORY:____________________________________________________________________3
VERSION 1.0___________________________________________________________________________3
VERSION 2.0___________________________________________________________________________3
I N THIS VERSION, I CREATE TWO TYPES OF CARDS FOR MORE FUN.__________________3

FIRST TYPE WILL BE LETTERS CARDS, WHICH MEANS STUDENTS WILL NOT CHOOSE
LETTERS BY THEMSELVES, THEY WILL DRAW CARDS AND WILL START THE ROUND
USING THAT LETTER. ________________________________________________________________3

SECOND TYPE WILL BE HINTS CARDS. EACH PLAYER HAS THE RIGHT (JUST ONE TIME
DURING THE GAME) TO USE THIS CARD TO GET ASSISTANCE FROM TEACHER. _______3

GAME OVERVIEW____________________________________________________________________4
VISION STATEMENT______________________________________________________________________4
MARKET ANALYSIS__________________________________________________________________5
AUDIENCE PROFILE_______________________________________________________________________5
DISTRIBUTION__________________________________________________________________________5
DETAILED GAME DESCRIPTION______________________________________________________6
THE CORE IDEA_________________________________________________________________________6
BACKGROUND STORY_____________________________________________________________________6
GAME OBJECTIVE_______________________________________________________________________6
GAME PLAY___________________________________________________________________________6
SET UP_______________________________________________________________________________6
RULE/MECHANICS_______________________________________________________________________6
WINNING_____________________________________________________________________________7
ASSESSING OUTCOMES_____________________________________________________________________7
OTHER ASPECTS_________________________________________________________________________7
I WILL INCLUDE THE DESIGN OF THE GAME TO BE CLEARER FOR THE READERS:_______________________________7
PROTOTYPE/PLAYTEST____________________________________________________________________8
PROTOTYPE #1: DATE SUNDAY 18, 2010._____________________________________________________8
PROTOTYPE #2: FRIDAY, MAY 1ST, 2010._____________________________________________________8

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Design History:
Well, this game is not completely NEW. My family and friend always play this
game when we were kids. But the difference here is I change it to be ESL game. This
game has been changed over years during playing it, rules also changed since that time.
This game was designed to for kids to learn new word and how to spell it. Kids in 1st and
2nd grade found this game to be very useful for them. It wasn’t timed in the original
version. But right now, the time gives this game more excitement.

Version 1.0
In this version, this game wasn’t timed. It was created for kids to learn new
words for school.

. Here is what I changed.

1. I kept the rules but to be fit with ELS students.

2. I added time.

Version 2.0
I n this version, I create two types of cards for more fun.
First type will be letters cards, which means students will not choose letters by
themselves, they will draw cards and will start the round using that letter.

Second type will be hints cards. Each player has the right (just one time during the
game) to use this card to get assistance from teacher.

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Game Overview
Vision Statement
Letter game is the fastest game to learn new words in a funny way with more challenge between players.

In Letter Game, you will find your self deeply using memory to call the information you need.
This will help ESL students. The interest in this game is that ESL students have to use as many words they
learned in a game. It is a game of the brain working fast and in an organized fashion. It is interesting for
students who are learning English and want to enhance their vocabulary faster. If those students play it
every few weeks, using the new words they learned every day, that will teach each one of them some words
to use it in daily life.

This game works by using at least two new vocabulary words for each letter every week. Each student
chooses a letter to start the game, in each round. One student will say his/her letter and say START so the
game will start. If someone finishes first he has to say STOP, so all students stop writing and put their pens
down. Whoever finishes first has the right to start the second round and so. If no one finishes before 3
minutes, the game then will finish and the one who fill must the columns is the winner. That means, the one
who filled at least 3 or 4 out of 5 subjects/columns more than others he will win the game, and if two
players have the same result, they will gain same points for this round.

This game is designed to be played with paper and pens. Use 7 columns like this:

L Names Animals Planets(Fruit Objects Countries (or T

or Veggie) cities)
*L= Letters *T= Total
Under letter, the students will choose letters from cards and write it in this column when they start the
round.

This game teaches the basic and intermediate levels of vocabulary to students who want to learn English in
a funny and fast way during their study. The game gives a knowledge that students need to use in their
daily life. The main objective here is to convince students to search for new words to play. These new
words will develop their word knowledge and spelling.

My game, I think, is the best game for anyone wants to learn new vocabulary fast. This game will enhance
the memory to work and recall the words that the students learned. It convinces learners to challenge each
other in order to make their rows have as many new words as they can. The spirits of challenges lead
learners to be more effective in the game.

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Market Analysis

Audience profile

In this game, I am focusing in ESL students who are learning English as a second language. Most of these
students are still learning in the language center. I am focusing on beginner and intermediate students who
are learning new words every day. Most of these students are from Middle East and Asia like Korea, Japan,
and Taiwan because they have difficulty in memorizing words. They must at least finish level one to play
this game with some Basic English vocabulary to play this game. Because they came to the language center
with not much vocabularies, I would suggest for them to start this game when they feel they are have some
vocabularies to use it in this game.

The teacher needs to know how to evaluate those students. He will see how many students use new
vocabulary words each week, and also convince students to use some books to gain more vocabulary they
needs in each subject in the game.

Distribution

I am thinking of using this game in language centers that will help students more. Because this game is
both fun and challenging, that should attract students to play it. I studied in a language center and there we
– as students- played some games with one teacher. That class was full of students wanting to come
because the games in that class were very funny and educational at the same time.

This game was created to be played in many ways; in class, or in any group. Because it does not need
anything beside papers and pens, it can be played anywhere.

This game can be played in any language center. It also can be designed to be played on the internet with
different people online. But this solution is not being developed at the moment.
.
IT is a game for use with ELS teachers, or at home with Family and friends.

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Detailed Game Description

The Core Idea
There are 7 columns; L, Names, Animals, Planet, Objective, Country, and T. Players choose one player to
start the game or by lot. The first player can choose any letter he wants from the 26 letters to start. When he
chooses, he will say the letter and say START. All players start together to finish all columns as fast as they
can. The first one to finish the game has the right to begin the second round. When each round finishes,
players say what they put in each column in order to see if they are similar or different from each others. In
each column different, players put 10 points and if some are similar they put 5 points. For example: If I
play with 2 other people and none have the same name, animal, planet, object and country that I wrote, in
each column I will put 10 points, so the total will be 50 points for this round.

Background Story
The story of this game started when I was a kid. Of course it wasn’t for ESL students. We – my family and
friends- played it almost every time we gathered. It was fun. We played it sometimes now, but it all in
Arabic. We like to challenge each other on who will finish first. We focus on time and total, so we always
try to find new subjects to get more points.

Game Objective
I excelled in fast writing (in Arabic). So, most time I win easily. In this game, if your write as fast as you
can and with enough information, you will win, without doubt.
But I learned a lot, from the new words, writing fast helps you memorize most subjects.

Game Play

I started playing this game the week prior with my friends. We are all considered as ESL students. We
make a circle, and each one starts drawing the game grid on her paper to begin play. We started the game
by choosing who would go first. We used a timer clock set to 3 minutes.. What happens is that some of us
forgot some easy words because the time was short. In contrast, some finish early in some rounds, the time
ran out before we finished the round with especially in hard letters like; J, U, P, W, V, and X.

Set up

This game does not require complicated pieces. All players need only pen and paper. They may need a
ruler to organize the columns in the paper. But this game can be played any time, anywhere, with any
number of players.

Rule/Mechanics

There are no such hard rules. Just be a fast writer, well informed, and managed your time.

The main rule is to not ask anyone for any help. If someone do not know the subject, he can just skip to
another subject then come back to think about what he/she did miss if there is a time.

I would like to develop new rules that might make this game more fun.

In fact, I want to create two types of card that can help students in this game. First type of cards would be
letters card. That means students will not choose letters from A-Z, they will withdraw the card and tell the
rest of the players what is the letter and start the round.

The second type of card would be the hint’s cards. This card means that players have a chance to get help
from the teacher (or someone can help hem if they play out of school). It doesn’t mean that teacher gives

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him the answer directly, but the teacher will give him key words to help him think about the subject to find
a suitable vocabulary. For example; Jack play with 5 other people in class, he filled in all columns except
(animal) in letter W. he would use hint card to get support from the teacher. He then draws the card and ask
teacher for help. The teacher will not gives him the direct answer, she/he will say like “this animal lives in
the see, or/and it is the only mammals lives in the water”, the player has to know which this animal is, if he
failed, he lose the 10 points of this subject.
During the help from teacher, all players stop writing in their papers. The came will maintain when the
player who need help come back to game again. The assistance time must be no longer than 2 minutes.

The winner in each round has the right to change any subject he wants to another (if he/she wants), so, that
can make thin game more knowledgeable. Because each time they change the subject, that means new
vocabulary to learn.

One important rule; if the letter card has been repeated, the player will not write the same subjects they
wrote early. For example; if one player in letter C wrote: name: Carol, animal: Cat, planet: Carrot, object:
Car, and country: Canada, if letter C coming again in the same game, players cannot write the same words
they wrote before.

Teacher can set up some rules every week. For example; she can add hard subjects for students she might
think they are ready to advance their learning. Or maybe encourage new students to listen to the new word
in the game and then use it in the second week to memorize it.

Winning

The winner of a round is the person who finishes first. But the ultimate winner is whoever gains the most
points over the rounds played.

(How many rounds do you play?) It depends on players, if they want to play all letters from A to Z that
would be 26 rounds. But I suggest if they play 10 rounds that each week that would be enough to gain more
vocabulary and memorize it easily.
Assessing outcomes

Students playing this game should see an increase in the number of words they can write. Keeping track of
scores from week to week will give a clear indication of how much vocabulary skills have increased!

Other aspects
I will include the design of the game to be clearer for the readers:

L Names Animals Planets(Fruit Objects Countries (or T

or Veggie) cities)

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Prototype/Playtest
Prototype #1: Date Sunday 18, 2010.
Using the basic rule set we built a sample game using sticky notes. We found that certain mechanics
slowed the game down, so we need to go back to the drawing board on these

What enhanced the game:

1- We were all ESL students using new words every time.

2- Before this game, we played Pictionary, so that helped us learn new vocabularies.
3- Some players learned a lot of new vocabulary, especially those still learning English.

What was not expected:

1- Some letters were hard to finish because we couldn’t fine some subjects in the 3 minuets.
2- Some players were not well informed and that makes the game hard for them.
3- Because we weren’t at the same level of education, the players who still learning English gave up
early.

Prototype #2: Friday, May 1st, 2010.

After adding new rules, I went to one language center I have been before and suggest for a teacher to let
students play this game. There were level 5 and 6 students. The teacher gave players 30 minutes to play
this game with using of letter’s cards and hint’s cards. Students really had fun playing this game and I
really enjoyed seeing them play it well.
Most students tried to think of new vocabulary they learned recently. Some students tried to use hint cards
more than one time, but the rule in they have the right to use it just one time during the game. The teacher
felt that this game assist student to think about vocabulary in order to challenge each other and this is a
good thing in learning English.

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