Learning from our Users

I am currently working on a game with a team of developers I met at this years Global Game Jam.

Our game in the jam was called "To Earth" and in Colombia we got recognition from the sponsors of the event as the best overall game of the jam, here is a link if you want to read more about it:

GGJ game site: http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games/earth



Since the day we finished the our 48 hour jam the team was very confident in the idea that we had. Therefore we all decided to dedicate any extra hours we could have to developing this game fully. Our end goal is to place the game in the Android Market.


We are currently on a testing phase. during the jam, we were able to test out the levels, and that little testing proved to go a long way. This is why we have separated 6 different levels and we want to test out the difficulty and how easy it is to understand.

If you want to help us out, just play the game below, and at the end just click on the little save button and e-mail us that file.

you can e-mail it to me to: danbahamon@gmail.com or you can contact us on facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/ToEarthGame


Thank you very much for your time and support!


Click here to play

for any of you developers wondering what the file is, it is simply an xml file that has the time stamps, the amount of tries and sequences the user tried. this will help us determine if the user is taking too long to solve, and if they are, we can take a look at what sequences they are trying, because it is likely that if they are trying a sequence too many times that the clue is not clear enough.

here are some screenshots of what the file looks like and how we visualize it in excel.

Learning how backgrounds make us feel

Backgrounds often go unnoticed, at least to our conscious self. But backgrounds tend to have a powerful effect on the way we feel while playing a game. They are not the only tool to make us feel different things but they are a crucial part of it.

I want to take a look at a few examples and see how we see them..

First lets take a look at Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze:

Here we have three different parts of the game, the first one is near the start of the game, deep inside the jungle, the second one is at the middle and the last one is near the end... 

In the first image we are starting the game, we are entering a new world, learning the controls, as you can see on that image we have clear skies and bright colors. This creates a happier mood. 

The second image is a bit darker, in a more crowded place, with little lines of light left. This creates a mysterious mood.

The last one you can feel the tension, the darkness, the redness, this setting makes us feel uncomfortable. It looks dangerous. This definitely creates an unsettling mood.

Now let's look at the Disney movie Frozen:

I picked three different screenshots of the song "Let it Go". Let's look at the screenshots first and then at the video.

The song is about the main character overcoming her fears and learning to be happy with them. The first part of the song she is sad, upset, this is why we have an almost completely dark background, with snow falling. It seems cold, sad and lonely.

The next part of  the song is when she is starting to realize she can be happy, all of a sudden there is no snow, you can now notice more things in the background, lighter tones. this is gradually letting us know things are getting better. 

Near the end of the song, after she is now free from her pain, amazingly enough the darkness is gone, the sun is out and a bright pink sky is out.

now lets look at the video:

My Thoughts:

-It is important to start with bright colors and happy mood to give the player a good welcome.

-When difficulty increases, colors should get darker and elements like snow, rain, or something else should be falling. 

-After completing the game, the backgrounds should change again to brighter tones and happier moods.

If I want happy tone: 

1. Bright colors, light blue, light green.
2. Open Spaces
3. Large world in the back.

Mysterious tone:

1. Crowded Background
2. Dark colors
3. Things falling

Tense Tone:

1. Sharper edges
2. Red Colors
3. Items falling

What other tones can we create? 

any suggestions on new things I could add to create the different moods?

let me know what you think.

Thanks

Learning from The Game Theorists

Today I watched a great video about what makes games fun. I want to relate what they said to educational games.

Here is the video:

Important Notes:
- Games satisfy our human needs
- Competence (feeling of mastery, completion and gaining powers)
- Autonomy (You have control, choosing their own adventure, meaningful actions)
- Relatedness ( You matter to others, multiplayer)
- Cultures


My Thoughts:
-I view games as a sport for the mind. They help us improve several skills and they help us live out experiences, much like the way dreams prepare us for failure by letting us "Experience" it beforehand.
-The success of achievements, the birth of extremely hard games, and the many level upgrades in games like WOW have shown that players really enjoy playing games in order to achieve greatness.
-Making choices in real life can be dangerous, we fear of making big mistakes and hurting others in the process. With games we are able to make many different choices, learn from mistakes and play out possibilities. The Sims proved to be very successful, allowing people to live out their dream lives and letting them make mistakes proved to be very enjoyable.
-There is no better feeling than beating your brother in a game of Fifa, or showing off your high score to your friends, we like to win and we like others to know it. Multiplayer games like many of the Nintendo franchises have proven to be very successful because they invoke that inner competitor inside all of us.


Implementing ideas into educational games:
-Allow players to level up, keep track of their progress and show them their options. Congratulate them when they succeed and motivate them when they fail.
-Give them choices, instead of mimicking the current school system, let them decide what they want to learn, let them choose their path, the order they learn things in.
-Add multiplayer competition, perhaps add a small handicap system to allow two differently skilled players to be able to play against each other. Mario kart is very successful at giving all players a chance to win.

Learning from Lebron James

LeBron James is one of the best Basketball players in the game today. Night in and night out he just manages to bring 100% of his abilities to the game.

What does LeBron have to do with educational games?

well it is very simple, James is the physical representation of self motivation, hard work and goal achievement.

Since he was in high school, many believed he was going to be the next great one. This may seem like a wonderful thing, but it also came with a huge magnifying glass. Every bounce of the ball, every jump, every word was under extreme observation. This leads to many flaws being pointed out, and many haters attacking him.


But LeBron is a prime example on how you should react to criticism, he took what other people where saying, filtered out comments that had no real worth (like insults) and took a look at what he needed to improve in his game. And this is what he does every summer, he focuses on a task, on a particular aspect of the game he wants to improve and he works at it relentlessly until in is no longer a flaw but an asset he possesses.

But lets focus now on how this mentality can help us make better educational games. Lets break down the process:

1. Learn about areas that need improvement.
2. Set goals
3. Work at them
4. Review results

With this in mind I have created VCM (Virtual Challenge Manager). The goal of VCM is to provide the player with a set of custom challenges that they can attempt to complete, and keep track of their progress, always congratulating them on their achievements. 

As an example you can think of how you play video games, let's say Super Mario Bros. In my mind, sometimes I decide "let me try and beat the game in under 10 minutes" or "lets try and pass the entire game with small Mario" or "Let try and get over 20 lives" and so on and so on.

This is a gamers mentality, always striving to improve and beat tougher challenges. What VCM would do is that you would automatically get a set of challenges you might want to tackle next, all in exchange of a reward (virtual currency). 

I have developed a demo of VCM for this blogs Learning Game #2. The game production is still in prototype stage, so ignore all the programmers art.. The goal of the game is to build groups of 6 circles. in order to build a group you click on a circle and move around to get a sequence of 6 (only 6, any more or less doesn't count). 

Let me know what you think:

As you can see every time you complete a challenge you are given a tougher challenge to attempt.

Learning from ASAP Science

Today I saw a very interesting video from ASAP Science, you can check out their channel here: Channel

The question of this video is a very important question for Educational Games,

Can Video Games make us Smarter?

Here is the video, check it out and we can try to analyze it.

Important Notes:

1. Increase in Cognitive function (Memory, Strategic Planning, Fine Motor Skills)
2. Increased Attention Skills
3. Object Tracking
4. Future Jobs
5. Skills are only good if you use them

My Thoughts:

1. These skills are key components to Problem solving, a trait everyone needs on an everyday basis.
2. This skill can help people focus and concentrate better, another trait that will help everyone do a better job at anything.
3. This could be related to multitasking
4. Anyone that is not fully literate in technology will be in great disadvantage in the future, having kids grow with educational games will prepare them for the future.
5. It is important for the games to also encourage activities outside of the house, to help kids understand how to use what they learn. 

Some time ago I did a game very similar to the one of the colors on the video, check it out and measure how good you can get.

Learning Game #2: Playtest

I have developed a prototype for the game, and hopefully you (the game dev community) can help me out with a little play testing.

The game rules are very simple. In this prototype you need to make sequences of 6 circles. in order to make a sequence you click on a circle, and while you are holding the left button down you are able to move around adjacent circles and color them.

Only sequences of 6 circles are allowed, so if you do sequences with longer or shorter amounts the computer automatically will erase what you did. The goal of this level is to get 9 sequences of 6 circles.

Here is the game, please share your thoughts and ideas, let me know if you are able to get to 9 groups, also let me know if you feel it is too hard or too easy. Thank you in advanced.
(email:danbahamon@gmail.com) or twitter @danbahamon

Learning from Vik Nithy

I just viewed a very interesting video on Why We Procrastinate

Here is the video:

Even though I find this very helpful for our everyday life, I don't want to concentrate on that. Instead I want to explore an idea that came to my mind while watching the video. I want to analyze what he talks about and relate it to games for education. 

First he talked about the Amygdala, a part of the brain designed to trigger a response when we feel threatened and that it shuts down a very important part of our "working" brain called the Prefrontal Cortex. I can't help but think of students all over the world with fears of making mistakes, failing a test and how their performance is greatly affected by how they react to the situation. 

Vik gave some really good points on dealing with procrastination, which in a sense were tips on preventing anxiety and not triggering the amygdala fear response. here is the Bullet point list:

1. Plan Goals
2. Plan Time
3. Plan Resources
4. Plan Process
5. Plan for Distraction
6. Plan for Failure

these are all really good tips, many of these I do on my everyday life for doing work I need to do, here is a couple of examples of how I do this:

As you may notice, I like keeping track of things, but it is an extra load of work to do this, therefore it is not something easy for kids to do. 

But we are lucky enough to not be dealing with paper any more. Computers would be able to open up a screen and help the kid determine what goals they have for the session, also keep track of achievements and keep them motivated in order to reduce any chance of discomfort.

My Thoughts:

This is how I envision these key points being integrated into a game to help keep the student focused and entertained.

-Have a pop up screen where the player chooses what to work on, so if it is a multiplication game, they can determine if they want to work on their fives, or their eights. This should allow for them to clearly determine how this will benefit them.

-Let them set a session time. the game could have short, med or long mode. at which the student would not feel forced into playing longer than what they would like.

-Resources is a tricky one, as the game should have all elements integrated.

-Process is another hard one. I could see maybe in a logic game, a player determining what strategy they are going to use. but it is also very hard to integrate.

-Distraction is a key challenge. they need to stay focused, so adding some distractions or mini games can also act as a stress relief moment. Something like the little side islands in Super Mario Galaxy

-Failure is inevitable, but I think a good way to add failure into the game is with a story. everyone likes a comeback, everyone roots for the underdog, so maybe, with characters you are able to create a story for the player. something like saying it was a great chance, but now, "name of player" you must gather your tools and get ready to try again. the town needs you!

Anyways, this was a very interesting video, I know I viewed it from a completely different point of view, but I have a strange feeling that there is a key element for educational games hidden somewhere in what he said. 

Expect some prototypes of these ideas on the next Learning game from Impudia (the Math game).

Learning Game #2: Artificial Intelligence (A*)

Today I want to share some AI programming that I am doing for the Math game.

The Game: I will not go over the game description at this moment, but the goal is to build groups of colors out of a board. For example the game shows a multiplication 5x7 then the goal is to make 5 groups of 7 by coloring the circles.

The Challenge:

The board in the back needs to be randomly generated. so that it can dynamically create levels for players to play without already knowing the answer.

Road Block #1:

I need to make sure to come up with a good way to remove circles, I could run into trouble if I randomly remove them....

Solution #1:
Instead of randomly removing blocks I will do a labyrinth solve approach..

Think of what you do to quickly solve a labyrinth. You start from the end and go backwards towards the start

With this line of thought, I want to create a complete path, that uses as many circles as the multiplication (5*7) = 35. Once I have that I will remove any of the items that are not being used

Problem #2:
For the creation of the path I used A* algorithm, the only issue with this was that the computer was having a meltdown trying to figure out all the possible paths. My algorithm would stop when a path of length 35 was found. The only issue was that the computer exit out of the game before reaching that. it would crash after creating 4 million different paths.

Solution # 2:
This one was a brain teaser. I knew that I was doing the right algorithm, but it was just too expensive, I couldn't cut corners because my path had no directions, no rules, the goal was to get a path that covered 35 blocks. But for every path I was getting around 3 new paths, here is just a small chart to demonstrate how chaotic this is:

As you can see, just 16 blocks in, I would have over 4 million paths! There is no way I could get to 35

In order to mitigate with this one, you will be surprised but my solution was extremely weird. I just decided that I would only allow for 20 paths to be created, that way after 700 paths I would already reach a solution. 700 paths are created in almost no time. 

Problem #3:

Solutions where working but I guessed the solutions where just boring, I was getting big blocks all the time

As you can see, this is boring.... not quite what I had in mind with the design sketches.

Solution # 3:

In order to solve this one I was able to come up with a nice solution, instead of building a path of the exact length (5*7)=35 I decided to create an extra one for each group = 5 groups of 8 = 40. then I would remove every 8th circle...

Check out the resulting file, click on the screen to just randomly create new paths....