Adventurespace
Game Introduction
Aliens from Planet Zebulon have shown up at your door asking you to help them with their galaxy-wide scavenger hunt! Captain Gibbs and his companions have visited many different species in an effort to research the various famous or historical monuments that are unique to that planet. The captain’s child, Zimm, is around your age and wants to see what kind of remarkable structures exist on our world, and you are the lucky winner who gets to show off Earth! Using their transporter, you are able to travel the world and visit all the famous and historical monuments that you think Zimm should see and learn about. Are you ready?
Game Details
The purpose of Adventurespace was to create a solution for middle school classrooms that struggle to make history subject fun and engaging. It is usually a hard topic to engage students and is often seen as boring or uninteresting. However, utilizing serious games, Adventurespace helped alleviate pressure in these areas by allowing a student to take control of their learning through a game that keeps them interested and on edge while taking in information. I wanted the learner to play the role as the main character so that they feel connected to the other characters as they interact with them.
Adventurespace was first designed in Twine, a tool used to create interactive stories. The game was later revised using Artictulate Storyline 3, a helpful tool used to create interactive content. The game is web-based and the user can interact with buttons that result in various outcomes. The user makes choices between different options that progresses and shapes the outcome of the story while enjoying audio and video effects and learning about the historical monuments.
Reflection
The development of this project allowed me to further my understanding on the role of a designer and developer for educational games. It also informed me on what makes a successful educational game by using both instructional and design strategies. For example, reflecting back to the the Educational Game Design course, I remember discussing individualized learning and how it relates to educational games. I believe that this artifact creates an accessible tool that allows students the opportunity to learn how they want and at their own pace. Several of my peers agreed and provided positive feedback from both an instructional and game design perspective.
Adventurespace was a successful project; however, I had to deal with a few significant challenges during the design and development phase which were mostly on the technical side of things. It was the first time I ever used Twine and Articulate Storyline. While developing the game, I also had to learn about the software and their features. It occupied significant parts of my time and often felt overwhelming while creating the game. Additionally, Articulate Storyline 3 had no collaboration feature, making it impossible for our group to simultaneously work on the same project file. I feel like this was a lesson learned when it comes to game design and development. Just like instructional design, it is critical to prepare in advance the entire process from start to finish while conducting evaluations to create a more polished final product.
Overall, designing this game was enjoyable and a huge learning experience for me. Therefore, I would like to continue the development of Adventurespace at some point. Since the current game only includes the great pyramid of Giza, I would like to include other monuments that were planned such as the Eiffel Tower and The Great Wall of China. Additionally, I want to add new elements such as a scoring mechanism and something that creates a challenge for the player such as questions and critical thinking puzzles.
Contact me if you would like more information about this project!
Kayla McGill 