Fairytool: Learn and Socialize by making games

Nowadays, video games are one of the main and most fascinating entertainment media, so it is not surprising that many people have tried to make it an innovative learning tool. But even more surprising is the lack of studies and experimentation on this subject, often substituted by empirical evidence. Making games has always intrigued people, so the goal of this study is to design a tool that allows people to create their own games in a fun way without any technical background, considering both technological and psychosocial aspects, making the game creation the game itself.This is not meant to be a replacement for commercial game engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal) but a learning and experimentation platform for kids and enthusiasts. The existing tools with the same goal, even the ones from big companies, are often too complex to be used without help, or too limited both in expressiveness and in technological possibilities. So, the tool needs to be simple to learn, expressive, fun, and it should let people experiment with technology such as 3D graphics, mobile platforms, gamepads, Virtual and Augmented reality, and more. With the help of a psychologist, to a heterogeneous group of young people (from 10 to 28 years) with different psychological diagnostic pictures, including Autism and High Intellectual Potential, is asked to individually create a given game using Scratch, the most popular tool in this field, and after to freely create games with Fairytool in small groups, aiming to let other groups play the created game. Small groups are mixed every iteration. Finally, data are collected both by observation and surveys. The result is that the proposed tools were much easier to learn with very little need of help compared to Scratch, and people were way more excited and intrigued to create games that looks like the ones they are familiar with. On the human side people, even the shyer ones, become closer to each other having fun during the game creation process and being free to talk about their passions with other gamers.