Video Game Design and Coding · PLECK lesson

PLECK lesson 104 · suggested week 21, day 4

Remove manipulative and privacy-invasive patterns

Objective. Design clear exits and fictional data without telemetry.

Godot Engine Standard desktop editor 4.7.2-stable, GDScript (Godot 4), Compatibility renderer. Headless Godot 4.7.2.stable.official.ed1daf0bf passed 106 assertions on the supplied scaffolds, including malformed JSON saves. Audio used the Dummy driver and a synthetic WAV, not a speaker. The visual editor, browser export, and signed-in submission were not tested. The desk still does not run a student's own upload.

About 55 minutes. The due date is chosen by a parent.

Text, focus, motion, privacy and evidence-based claims

Suggested pace: Recall and predict 5 min; Read instruction and scaffold 12 min; Build or design the assigned artifact 25 min; Run acceptance tests 8 min; Explain and checkpoint 5 min.

Materials: Paper and pencil or a private text document, Local course folder and prior checkpoint, No paid assets or public account required.

Comes after VGC-L103.

A student game does not need ads, analytics, account creation, loot purchases or a public leaderboard. Use a local best score under a fictional label instead of collecting real names. Give the player an obvious way to stop or return to the title. Avoid countdown pressure for purchases, misleading buttons or rewards that require sharing. If a lesson asks for testing, collect anonymous task observations only. Privacy is easier to protect when unnecessary data is never requested in the first place.

Worked example

A barrier audit might test whether Tab can reach Restart. The result is a specific supported capability, not a claim that every assistive technology is supported.

Remove manipulative and privacy-invasive patterns — evidence task

  1. 1. Audit the game for personal-data requests, misleading controls and forced sharing.
  2. 2. Write a plain-language privacy note stating what the local game stores or does not store.

Deliverable. Responsible-design audit and readme privacy note.

Acceptance checks

Understanding question. Why prefer not collecting data over promising to protect unnecessary data?

Submit readable text or photos/scans of each numbered design page. Audio explanation may supplement a diagram or text, not replace requested artifacts.

If this is still shaky. Test one barrier at a time: keyboard only, muted audio, reduced motion and enlarged text. Keep a checklist of actual results. Start with the first assigned task and re-run its acceptance test before adding the remaining feature.

Optional extra. Let a willing tester choose a comfort setting before the test without asking why they need it. Document one changed parameter, your prediction, and the observed effect; optional, not required for completion.

Name ____________________ Date ____________________