play think learn

I’ve recently given up on Zelda for the DS and become immersed in Scribblenauts. This is a fascinating game from both the engagement and learning angles in that the player solves puzzles using objects that are created when written. This means that there are a variety of ways to approach any puzzle, limited only by the game dictionary (around 20,000 words). So you can get an apple from a tree using a LADDER, bounce on a TRAMPOLINE, create a FIRE and burn the tree down, or get a DRILL and shake it down, and so on.

This game is an excellent example of creative problem-solving, where players can explore the system and the interactions between objects, and it has a sense of humour. I love that the game designers have thought of many of the silly options players might type in, so you can call a MONSTER through a PORTAL, fight with a DRAGON, fly on a MAGIC CARPET and deal with pesky cyclones using a SHRINK RAY.

There is also in interface for creating new levels, although these seem to be only of the very basic sort (or I’m suffering from ’stupid user’ syndrome) and the ability to also create and share new sophisticated levels and objects with other players would also take this game to another level by turning players into creators.

I was quite excited when what I think is the first twitter game, Spymaster, was launched recently. Essentially, when you sign up to join the game you have complete tasks, recruit other spymasters from your twitter network and assassinate other players. While I think the idea of a game built around something like twitter is a great idea, in principle, I have a couple of concerns about spymaster:

• Now I may be missing the point but it doesn’t actually seem to be much fun.  Completing tasks is entirely related to chance and there doesn’t seem to be much skill, though or strategy involved. (Although perhaps this is more apparent at higher levels?)
• More worrying to me (and the reason that I’ve stopped playing) is that it seems very easy to annoy your current twitter following (the majority of whom will not be using it to play games) by: a) flooding with constant tweets from the game; or b) having to send invitations to play as an integral part of the game design.

So, while I love the idea of embedding a game into a tool like this, I think it’s essential to make it unobtrusive to the majority of users who have no interest in game playing.

I’ve just spent a happy couple of hours walking in a park near my house. This is actually a very unusual Sunday activity for me as I usually get bored of walking within about 20 minutes. I do like walking, but only if the aim is to get somewhere specific (i.e. it has a very clear purpose).

However, I’ve recently discovered GPS Mission for the iPhone. This is basically techno-orienteering, and at the moment is my favourite app by far. It’s a really simple premise - there are missions that you have to complete and gold that you have to collect (although so far I haven’t attempted any missions as there are none near where I live) by going to their location on the map. However, even finding gold is very compelling (particularly the ‘ker-ching’ noise it makes when you walk over the right spot) and adds purpose to a simple Sunday afternoon stroll.

At present there don’t seem to be many other players around where I live but I can imagine that the addition of a competitive element (once gold has been collected, that’s it - gone) would add a new dimension.

My enthusiasm for this new game got me thinking about the potential uses for learning, particularly in terms of induction activities to help students find their way around new parts of a city or campus, or as a way to motivate reluctant exercisers. I’m sure it won’t be long until projects that use this sort of location-aware technology in education start appearing, and I look forward to seeing some really innovate uses.

GlamStart is an excellent example of a simple game that is being used as part of student induction at the University of Glamorgan.

The game allows players to take on the role of a virtual student, navigate through virtual versions of the real campuses, get information about locations, talk to people, pick up objects and make decisions about student life. By undertaking a range of challenges students can get an idea of the types of thing they will need to consider as new students (e.g. time, finance, social life, study) as well as win real-life prizes.

This seems like a very apt title given that I’ve been unable to post for the past couple of weeks because of problems with my ISP - but that suddenly seems to be miraculuously fixed. Hurrah.

I got an email recently from Alex Hazel, one of the creators of a new charity alternate reality game. He says:

“Traces of Hope” is being launched as the first ever charity online ARG and is being built by the British Red Cross to coincide with its Civilians and Conflict month. The game features Joseph a sixteen-years-old caught up in the Ugandan civil war, separated from his family, hungry and alone in a camp overflowing with thousands forced to flee, Joseph is desperately seeking his mother. But he needs your help…

Sadly a week too late to be the first charity ARG, but looks interesting. You can see what the BBC has to say about it here.

Operation: sleeper cell launched this week and is a large-scale ARG, designed by volunteers, aiming to raise money for Cancer Research. Brilliant.

There’s a detailed description over on ARGnet.

(Also known as the Emergent Game part 2.)

Niki Pugh has just blogged about Call and Return, a multi-cultural mission-based urban game running from 19 September and currently recruiting players worldwide. She says “as well as negotiating their immediate surrounding, players must also negotiate interactions with other people across different geographies, languages and time zones”. Time to dust off my beaver then…

I’d also recommend a visit to the Ludogeographic Society.

Thanks to Katie Piatt for twittering about this: a quiz to guess as many of the most common 100 words as you can in five minutes. I only got 56 but I beat Katie so I’m happy :o)

Got a big deadline on at the moment so really didn’t need something new to distract me (thanks, Scott). However, since it’s inevitable that I’m going to be distracted by something it might as well be something cool, like Kingdom of Loathing. Conclusive  proof, I think, that good gameplay does not depend on high production values.

I had a wonderful day out down in Birmingham on Saturday for the Grand Finale of Emergent Game, the brainchild of Nikki Pugh. The emergent game is kind of hard to explain… part online, part real-world, it involves selecting a cuddly toy avatar, undertaking a whole range of missions, and doing loads of creative things with technology.

I was really amazed at the way that this game became so engaging so quickly, how easy it was to slip into ‘avitari talk’ and how motivated I was to learn how to use lots of web applications simply to achive missions (and the kudos of my fellow ludens). When we finally met face-to-face over a cheeky beer it was like I had known these people for ages.

I think the emergent game structure has loads of potential in educational contexts. In particular:

• the way that it is designed with players (ludens) and people who watch (sapiens) so that watching is seen as a legitimate way to participate;
• the design of missions so that they are scored in five qualities - character, creativity, collaboration, community and cabaret - and so that working together is both essential and rewarded;
• the way that the missions list could be expanded and, in fact, there were missions that involved designing additional missions;
• the creative way in which the players embraced a whole range of web 2.0 technologies to achieve missions, and supported each other when technical difficulties arose;
• how much the game made me laugh out loud - it was just so silly. I suspect that sharing a sense of humour is very important to making something like this work.

Of course, I really should have spent more time at the beginning of the game when selecting my avatar, thinking through the consequences of choosing a beaver…