Schell Games

The Transformational Framework: A Process Tool for the Development of Transformational Games

"The Transformational Framework" is a process tool developed from Schell Games' work with Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, designed to help development teams plan games intended to change players in ways that extend beyond play itself.

• Transformational games are defined by three hallmarks: deliberate intent to change players, transfer of that change to the real world, and persistence of the change after play ends, distinguishing them from entertainment games where player change is incidental.
• The Transformational Framework is an eight-part, iterative process completed during pre-production, beginning with a high-level purpose framed around the impact a team wants to make rather than the game itself.
• Player transformations should be defined as specific, measurable, player-centered changes, drawing on a typology that extends beyond Bloom's Taxonomy to include behavior, belief, relationships, identity, and society.