A Look Into Educational Gaming

Darfur is Dying

http://www.darfurisdying.com/
Target Age: 16-22 (High school)

1. How the scarcity of basic resources is incredibly common and essential to the survival of the people of Darfur.

2. That the people of Darfur all have individual stories, and many of them are depressing and incredibly sad. It tries to put a human face on the grand tragedy.

3. That help is possible and can be done in a variety of ways—sending a letter to a politician, donations, and more are all available to do through the game.

Critique: Overall, I felt the game to be lacking very much gameplay, challenge, or interest. Sure, it conveyed some basic information and stories, but there was very little interaction. There is no replay value nor any reason to go back to the game after its initial play through.

Climate Change

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/
Target Age: 18-30 (Young Adults & Middle Aged)

1. That drastic policies and measures by the government is needed in order to combat global warming effectively.

2. There is no popular road or one way to combat global warming, and a combination of changes will need to take place—nearly all of them being unpopular (such as CO2 and gas taxes)

3. Even when you “win” the game, you may have destroyed your country’s wealth or popularity in the world. You must balance everything as best as possible, which seems downright impossible at times.

Critique: Sometimes, it felt like there was little feedback in terms of how much of resources you needed. Also, when the game was over, it informed me I destroyed my country’s economy and wealth. Which seems odd, since I had tons of extra money and there was no indication that I was destroying our wealth. Oh well, stopped global warming.

Third World Famer

http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com/
Target Age: 16-25

1. How massive, tragic events happen nearly every year, and it effects economies of third world nations every year. From famine to civil war to rebellions to death to disease, there’s always something taking its toll.

2. You must use extremely limited resources to turn your farm around and become successful. However, the ability to actually succeed and “win” the game is a nice change, rather than Darfur is Dying’s “you just survive” mechanic.

3. That simple necessities, such as food, medicine,  education, and communications, takes years (if not more) to save for. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to get these things.

Critique: Overall, I enjoyed this game. It made you think about the decisions you were making, and yet you felt a sense of progression and achievement by making good decisions.

Pandemic 3

review coming soon

Straw Building: Does it have Meaningful Play?

Is using straws and tape to build a simple free-standing structure constitute meaningful play?

My answer, simply, is yes.

The game is largely descriptive due to the teamwork elements but also some of the decisions along the way. You find meaning in the game by making decisions -- who leads the project, what type of construction system, who is doing what parts of the construction. The limits of time and construction materials all help create a more interesting and "evaluative" process to the game.

"Integration" comes full-circle when you begin to near the finish and look at other free-standing structures. You see where your decisions have led you, where other people's decisions have led them, and you truly begin to understand the impact of your early decisions. Many times this will lead people to quickly change their idea or to add a small last bit of height (which ultimately fails).

Games are about decision-making, achievement, progress, and working towards a goal. The straw-building exercise fits into this mold perfectly, and thus, I would consider it a game.

Web Comics and using Interactivity

After reading three online comics, I've found that the added layer of interactivity brought by the use of javascript and animation add a lot to a very traditional way of telling storys through graphic novels, which is very panel-based. These comics "thought outside the box."

The first comic is an odd manga-like short story that's, frankly, a little frightening. Even though the comic was not in English, it was able to communicate a very odd short story. It still used the traditional panel, scrolling down and viewing the square boxes as the story moved forward in a linear fashion. But the speed at which the panels were observed changed depending on the part of the story. Quick, flashly, and abrupt animation took over when you observed sudden reveals or frightening revelations. It also used simple animation on a couple frames to bring it even further to life. I enjoyed these small additions quite a bit, and would definitely conclude they are a "comic" even with a small amount of animation applied.

Where I might draw the line is the use of sound. Using sound in the medium makes it less a visual experience, and more an audio/visual experience more akin to animation or some definition of "mixed media." If this comic we played without sound, even with the animation, I would consider it to essentially be a comic. However, moving too far "out of the box" makes it more akin to a short animation or motion graphic, rather than a traditional comic.

The other two comics are Part I and Part II of Scott McCloud's "The Right Number." In this comic, you "flip the page" by pressing a small panel inside of the full panel, essentially delving "deeper" into the story with every press. It's a bit difficult to explain without simply experiencing the comic yourself.

Though for it's time, "The Right Number" was controversial as a graphic novel, in recent years it's become far more readily accepted as a true graphic novel. This was mainly because of how he used the traditional panel is a very non-traditional way. As Scott McCloud explains, "[The Right Number] plays with the idea of treating the screen as a window rather than a page (the so-called "infinite canvas" style, most often associated with my book Reinventing Comics)" (source).

Despite changing the norms and using a flash-based system to show the art, I feel it still has all the needed requirements to be a comic. It's slightly experimental, yes, but it still uses panels fairly traditionally, has a linear fashion, and still makes a lot of sense as a comic-reading experience. On top of that, the story is very fresh, deep, and just plain good. The story really feels like you're going "into the mind" of the main character. I believe the format really helps in presenting this story.

Shepherd Student Comics - Review

The first graphic novel I will be reviewing is The Ghosts and Ruth Ann. Created by communications major Dillon Hawkings and a team of artists and fellow students, this short graphic novel tells the tale of "Young Ruth Ann." Convinced that West Virginia is filled with nothing but coal miners and rednecks, she meets a young man who begins to share tales and stories that open her eyes a little.

The drawings and visual style are great. Though seemingly simple sometimes, with the absense of color, there's not lack of detail and there's plenty of interesting aspects to look at. The mountains and clouds, especially, give a superb feeling that you are indeed in West Virginia and that's essentially what the graphic novel is about. I like how the graphic novel uses stories and flashbacks to help communicate the meaning of the overall graphic novel, and really gives this piece a unique sense.

Overall, I was a huge fan of this graphic novel and would read similar works by these artists. Great job, guys!

The second graphic novel is Doors by Jason Smith.

Though the visual style and art is a bit rough, the story is awesome. It truly feels as if it were a movie being acted out when you flip through the pages, with fully developed characters, a plot that unravels over time, and a sense of suspense and drama that just continues to build. Though the story is somewhat abstract and gets a bit muddled at times, it lets you sort of find your own meaning. The black backgrounds to the panels and the entire visual style makes it feel more like a dream or a memory, and a few panels are especially vivid and put you on the spot.

While not my favorite graphic novel, the story itself was great. Hopefully this is a starting point for using another medium to tell this story, such as film.

Competition in Gaming

A large part of a successful game is the ability to compete in it. Whether you're trying to complete more achievements (think of Xbox Live achievements), beating your friend at a competitive game, or moving up some sort of ladder or tournament system, competition and gaming have gone hand-in-hand for many years.

A key to make a game truly successful is make it fun to compete in. This is key to keep people interested in the game, because it creates something they can keep going back to. They want their progress and successes in a game to be tracked, and they want to be able to show their abilities to their friends.

One of the most simple games would be a game of chess (or even checkers). The rules are simple, and understood by all. It's up to an individual's skill and cunning to out-smart and beat their opponents. It's the most basic level of competition. These games are remarkably simple, they've stood the test of time, and they're hugely popular. Because they've embraced, at its core, the principles of competition. They allow players to battle head-to-head without battling the game mechanics.

The point of allow players to compete against each other means that the game's rules and mechanics can't get in the way of a truly competitive experience. Competition in games has lead to things like multiplayer online gaming, achievements, leaderboards, tournaments, "professional gaming", and more. I believe that for a game to become hugely successful, it must embrace some form of competition. Competition allows for more replay value, and it also allows people to challenge their friends--thus creating word of mouth.

I hope to study more about competition, why it exists, and what drives people to compete, and then use this knowledge in the study of game design.