What does it take to turn a love of history and video games into a new way to learn about civics?
Nebraska Public Media Game Producer Lauren Paatela shares the story behind Civics Scribble from its beginnings as a contest entry to a full-fledged Steam game featuring more than 100 puzzles, a new storyline and a level editor. Civics Scribble officially launches Sept. 17, Constitution Day. Add the game to your Steam wish list and get a notification when it’s available.
History might have been my initial career choice, but video games were my first love.
Long days and nights of my childhood and adolescence were spent with a controller in my hand. I remember saving years of birthday and Christmas money to buy a used Gameboy Advance. I was a shy, contemplative child, and video games brought me out of my shell and into brand new worlds.
A few years into my career as a researcher and fact-checker at Nebraska Public Media, Chad Davis, the network’s chief innovation officer, asked me to pitch a civics-themed game for a contest organized by the Library of Congress. I was initially hesitant, since up until that point games were solely a hobby for me. After some brainstorming, I decided to create Civics Scribble, a line-drawing game combining a multiple-choice test with fun gameplay. I decided to use the U.S. Naturalization Exam as source material.
As a historian tasked with creating a video game, I initially ran the project like a historian. The first few iterations of the game were...well, something. I knew nothing about game design, so I focused on what I did know – history. Each of the original 14 levels had a historical photo and caption, a paragraph of historical context, a fun fact and links to external sources. The original game came together in mere months, and we submitted that version to the Library of Congress. It functioned and was playable, but it didn’t truly feel like a game to me just yet.
Eventually, Chad asked if we wanted to make the game for ourselves, and we decided to withdraw from the contest. The path forward was clear – to make it into a successful game, I’d have to turn off my historian’s brain and start thinking like a game designer and producer.
The number one rule of game design is simple: the game has to be fun. It seems obvious, but it is much harder to achieve than one would think. After much trial and error (and learning that no one likes to read a lot in video games), we settled on a fun, consistent core gameplay loop: answer the question, draw lines to roll Mr. Apple into the correct barrel and get rewarded with a short fun fact. Rinse and repeat. Simple, easy, and a barrel of fun!
I like to say that Civics Scribble players will test their civics AND physics skills as they play the game. Not only do the levels teach the player about civics concepts like history and government, but they also teach physics concepts such as the conservation of momentum.
I am still proud of the first version of Civics Scribble. It took about a year to complete, and we made a full, fun game. We took everything we learned from that experience and brought it to the mobile version, which is available on app stores. At that point, I thought the Civics Scribble chapter had closed, but we weren’t done yet. Once we decided to release a version for Steam, I knew it had to be the culmination of everything we had learned over the past few years.
First: people really responded to Mr. Apple’s quirky humor scattered throughout the first game, courtesy of writer Madeline Schmit. Second, the game needed some elements of character customization. And last, it is REALLY fun to make your own levels.
With that in mind, we added a new, engaging storyline where the player helps Mr. Apple connect with long-lost relatives. Each cousin you meet in the game brings the opportunity to unlock a new hat to wear during gameplay, adding that feeling of customization.
Finally, we made the decision to add a full level editor to the game. In the level editor, players can create their own levels from scratch, edit preexisting levels and share their creations with friends.
On Constitution Day, Sept. 17, 2026, the final installment of Civics Scribble officially launches on Steam. It represents everything I’ve learned as a game producer and designer, as well as everything our team has learned about creating games.
We hope the world enjoys playing it as much as we enjoyed making it!