Introduction to
Game Design. 🎮
A free, live-hosted virtual experience where students in grades 3–5 discover how video games are built, think like real game developers & explore STEM-connected creative careers — through gameplay, discussion & a mini design challenge.
What Students Walk Away With
Every Game Lab session is hands-on, fast-paced and built for how kids actually learn. No textbooks. No lectures. Just real game design thinking.
Students learn the 3 building blocks behind every game — Goal, Rules & Challenge — and apply them to real games in real time. A framework they can use forever.
Gameplay is guided by designer-level questions that build critical thinking. Students play Fruitopia Word Search and analyze it as developers — not just players.
Every student designs an original game concept — naming it, defining the rules, drawing their character & applying everything they learned in one creative challenge.
Live. Interactive.
Works on Any Laptop.
We hosts every session live on video. Students follow along on their school laptops — no installs, no logins, no prep work for teachers.
↑ What a live Game Lab session looks like
The Full Session Breakdown
Every segment is timed, teacher-friendly and built to keep students engaged from the first second to the last.
Ms. Bee intro, MEEP reveal & the big question — what makes a game actually FUN?
The Goal, Rules & Challenge framework — applied to games students already play
Students play Fruitopia Word Search & tackle the Broken Level Challenge — fixing MEEP's level like a real developer
Students design an original game concept — name, goal, rules, challenge & character — using the framework they just learned
Volunteers share their game ideas with the class, download their certificate & take home something real they created
Ms. Bee just gave you to get started.
The Goal/Rules/Challenge framework sticks because students apply it to games they already love — not textbook examples.
Competition with real-time leaderboard in Zoom chat. Every student gets participation recognition — no one goes home empty-handed.
A digital Junior Game Designer certificate emailed to the teacher + their original game design concept — something real they created.
Real Careers Behind Every Game
Students meet four real game industry roles — and see a direct path from curiosity to career. With a real game studio founder in the room.
Decides the rules, goals and story. Every mechanic, every level, every challenge — they design it all before a single line of code is written.
Writes the code that makes the game actually work. When you jump, collect coins or lose a life — that's a developer's code running.
Draws every character, background, animation and icon. Everything you see in a game was designed by an artist with real creative skills.
Plays the game to find everything that's broken before it reaches players. Being great at games is literally part of the job description.
Beatrice Edwards founded Gaemster in 2024. She oversees game design, development, publishing & marketing — all from Des Moines, Iowa. Students see a real local business owner who built a game studio from scratch. That's the most powerful career lesson of all.
Built for Every Person in That Classroom
The core audience. Hands-on, interactive and fast-paced — designed for their energy and attention span. Every segment is timed to keep the room moving and engaged.
Zero prep required. Ms. Bee runs the entire session. STEM + career readiness framing gives educators visible academic value — curriculum connections available on request.
Free, standards-aligned, no liability, no in-person visit required. Game Lab checks every box for a low-risk, high-impact career readiness program — virtual delivery makes approval easy.
Game design hits computer science, math reasoning, creative writing and critical thinking in one 30-minute session. Curriculum connections document available on request.
Everything Included — Nothing to Prepare
Teachers do zero prep. Ms. Bee handles everything. All your school needs is 28+ students, laptops & a video call link.
Meet Ms. Bee
Beatrice Edwards is the founder of Gaemster — an independent game studio creating mobile and browser games played by students across 195+ countries. She designs games, writes books, builds virtual escape rooms and runs a VIP membership community — all from Des Moines, Iowa.
Game Lab is Gaemster's school outreach program — built to connect students with the creative and technical careers behind the games they love. Ms. Bee brings real games, real experience and real Meep energy into every classroom.
Game Lab FAQ
Yes — completely free to schools. No cost, no catch. Game Lab is Gaemster's school outreach program in collaboration with UWN. Our goal is to connect students with real STEM careers while introducing them to the Gaemster universe.
Each student needs a laptop or Chromebook with internet access and a browser. The escape game runs entirely in the browser — no downloads, no logins, no accounts needed. The teacher or school provides the video call link.
Game Lab is designed for one class at a time — typically 20–30 students. For larger groups or multiple classes, we can schedule back-to-back sessions on the same day. Contact us to discuss your school's needs.
Zero prep required. Ms. Bee runs the entire 30-minute session. The teacher just needs to have students on their laptops and the video call open when the session starts. We handle everything else.
The core session is designed for grades 3–5. The framework, language and activities are calibrated for that age group. We are developing versions for middle school and high school — contact us if you're interested in those grade levels.
Email us at support@gaemster.com and we'll send you our STEM + career readiness standards mapping document. It shows how Game Lab connects to computer science, math reasoning, creative writing and critical thinking standards.
Absolutely! We can schedule sessions for multiple classes on the same day or across multiple dates. We are also developing a multi-session series for schools that want to go deeper into game design. Contact us to discuss options.