Studying the past by playing the future

An emerging area of game design and development relates to the creation of interactive games and experiences for museums and cultural centers. Such games often have competing design goals and challenges as game designers endeavor to create rich and engaging experiences, educators attempt to create appropriate learning outcomes for artifacts and other tangible objects, and museum personnel strive to create experiences that complement and do not overshadow the physical experience of visiting their space. The reality of such design is that different stakeholders, designers, and developers must come together to tell an appropriate story around an artifact or tangible object without losing track of the entertainment and educational value of the experience. This paper describes an innovative course developed between a game design and development program and a museum studies program to develop interactive game experiences for museum spaces. In particular, the paper will examine the curricular design of the experience as well as lessons learned and deliverables from the course.