I Love These “Game Poems” & Think They Would Be Great Models For Students Creating Their Own
I love this!
Game Poems curates an innovative collection of small, poetic videogames, or “game poems.” That is, short interactive artworks that borrow language and framing from traditional videogames (e.g., they may utilize a player-controlled avatar or make use of classic videogame iconography), while also presenting themselves as poems in some way (perhaps by engaging with creative material constraints, playing with poetic text, or simply following in the lyric tradition of short-form personal expression).
The ones I tried out were very cool, though I didn’t click on all of them and can’t vouch they are 100% classroom appropriate.
I could see a teacher showing several, students identifying common characteristics, and then creating their own (assuming they or the teacher were technologically proficient to do so).
I’m adding this info to The Best World Poetry Day Resources – Help Me Find More.
For what it’s worth, I asked ChatGPT for suggestions of tools students could use to create these kinds of “game poems.” Here’s what it said:
⭐ BEST MATCHES FOR “GAME POEMS”
1. Twine
Best overall tool for interactive poetry
💡 What it is: A free tool for creating choice-based interactive stories and poems
🎮 Why it fits game poems:
Readers click choices
Text changes based on decisions
Can feel like a game, dream, or maze
🧠 Skill level: Beginner-friendly (no coding required)
🌐 Runs in browser or desktop
📤 Output: Shareable web page
Perfect for:
Second-person poems
Emotional decision poems
Identity, memory, or “what if” poetry
➡ Students can create poems where reading = playing
2. Scratch
Best for younger students / visual interaction
💡 What it is: Block-based coding platform (MIT)
🎮 Why it fits:
Poems can be revealed by clicking, moving, or colliding
Text, sound, and animation combine
Feels very “game-like”
🧠 Skill level: Elementary–middle school friendly
🌐 Browser-based
📤 Shareable links
Perfect for:
Concrete poetry
Spoken-word poems with motion
Mood poems with sound and visuals
➡ Think: poem as a playful interactive scene
3. Bitsy
Best for minimalist, artsy game poems
💡 What it is: Ultra-simple pixel game creator
🎮 Why it fits:
Poems appear as players move through rooms
Objects trigger lines of poetry
Very “indie game” aesthetic (like gamepoems)
🧠 Skill level: Beginner
🌐 Browser-based
📤 Shareable HTML file
Perfect for:
Journey poems
Memory poems
Place-based or vignette poems
➡ This is probably the closest vibe to gamepoems.com
🟡 SECOND-TIER (Still Strong)
4. Google Slides (Interactive Poetry)
Lowest barrier, surprisingly effective
Use hyperlinks between slides as “choices”
Click objects to reveal lines
Add sound and images
➡ Not a real game engine, but great for classrooms with tight tech limits
5. Canva (Interactive Presentation Mode)
Students create poem “levels” as pages
Buttons link to different paths
Strong visual design
➡ Less game logic, more visual storytelling
6. Genially
Interactive content creator
Clickable objects, layers, reveals
Free tier works well for poetry projects
➡ Excellent for exhibition-style game poems
🧠 HOW TO FRAME THIS FOR STUDENTS
You might give them a prompt like:
“Create a poem that must be played, not just read.”
Constraints help:
Reader must make at least 3 choices
Poem must change based on interaction
Language matters more than winning
