Beyond upload and download: Enabling game design 2.0

Abstract

The participative culture of Web 2.0 has increased the interest of online users in developing interactive artifacts such as games. However, educational computer games as the media to teach computer programming to end users are not cultivated in this culture yet. While several platforms enable sharing games through the Web, the game design process and its educational values are either lost or limited to downloading and uploading source in order to explore and modify the game program. In this research I present AgentWeb, a first-of-a-kind Web-based game design and programming environment. Targeted for the masses, AgentWeb provides visual programming language and runtime system for developing games inside the browser. Built using open Web technologies, AgentWeb can be easily incorporated into the online social networking environments, enabling users to develop, share, explore and customize as they play the game. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.