29 March 2017
To give ideas for the grid, the narrative and just generally a walkthrough of the game rules,
we are thinking to create a book/booklet in illustrative style that could look like a child fiction book.
Tuesday, 28 March 2017
Week 5 Class
29 March 2017
We talked to Tanya today, who gave us suggestions in how we could input more narrative into the main game.
The could be done by two teams simultaneously crossing the grid, turning it a bit into a race, though we though that this could initiate a lot of noise, which could hinder the kids to pay attention to the narrator. By keeping two grid for each team, there will be more of a seperation. Though it also will use more materials and time.
Another was is to put children who are not playing on the grid as predators such as whales, seals, turtles etc. to make the pathway a bit more challenging for the kid.
We still think there needs to be more visuals for the maingame as it look a bit bland at the moment. This might be done through colourful hoops, though we need to play test those to see if the work as well as the tape grid.
After that we taped a grid on the floor to playtest it with another team.
Overall the play test lasted about 11 minutes, 5 minutes longer than our first play test.
The feedback we received from the Bee group:
We talked to Tanya today, who gave us suggestions in how we could input more narrative into the main game.
The could be done by two teams simultaneously crossing the grid, turning it a bit into a race, though we though that this could initiate a lot of noise, which could hinder the kids to pay attention to the narrator. By keeping two grid for each team, there will be more of a seperation. Though it also will use more materials and time.
Another was is to put children who are not playing on the grid as predators such as whales, seals, turtles etc. to make the pathway a bit more challenging for the kid.
We still think there needs to be more visuals for the maingame as it look a bit bland at the moment. This might be done through colourful hoops, though we need to play test those to see if the work as well as the tape grid.
After that we taped a grid on the floor to playtest it with another team.
Overall the play test lasted about 11 minutes, 5 minutes longer than our first play test.
The feedback we received from the Bee group:
- maybe tiles are different colours, you remember better (too hard to remember), would also be more visual
- add some creatures on there (e.g. "go to the seal")
- at the moment narrative gets lost while playing
- definitely make it competitve, would be more fun
- maybe widening the grid, instead of making it longer, if you want to make it more difficult or add two teams on one grid
Bad Outcome statements for going of track
- Get caught in fish's gills
- Sea turtles mistake you for food
- Seals get caught on you
- Get caught in dolphins blow hole
- Platypus carries you back to the start
- Pete the Pelican eats you as food
- Caught in current
- Vortex hits
- Tidal wave washes you away
- Get caught on sea lions tusk
- Blue whale eats your whole swarm up
- get caught up in swarm of other jellyfish
Critical Response to Game Trial 28/3
7x7
grid- difficult route
Good things:
- · Game was enjoyable
- · Good level of difficulty (for us)
- · We really had to work together
- · We quickly got quite invested in the game. Frustrated when we made mistakes, happy when we got it right.
- · We liked having a prop- carrying the ‘jellyfish’
- · Easy to move through grid
- · Liked not having to flip anything
- · No hazards
Not so good things:
- · Need short precise statements for wrong moves eg “oh no you got eaten by a seal!”
- · Need a clearer narrative throughout
- · This course was probably too hard for younger kids
To keep thinking about:
- · Options for playing outside
- · More visuals
Ice Breaker Narrative
You are a diver exploring the ocean floor, swimming with the bright and colourful fish you see a cluster of jellyfish in the distance. Swaying with the oceans current, the jellyfish dance and float towards you. As you get closer to the jellyfish you realise that they aren’t actual jellyfish at all! It is a bunch of plastic bags stuck in the ocean! You think quickly and grab the plastic bags so they can’t harm other sea life. You don’t want any of the fish making the same mistake that you did and eating a plastic bag for dinner! You must start on your adventure to take it out of the water, saving the sea life and getting it to its proper disposal bin - the recycling.
This will be the initial touch point that engages the kids to the game. Before the ice breaker making session, this story will be read out to inform the kids of what is happening which will inform them about what they are making (a jellyfish in a bottle) and why getting through the game and getting the plastic bag to an appropriate place is so important.
This will be the initial touch point that engages the kids to the game. Before the ice breaker making session, this story will be read out to inform the kids of what is happening which will inform them about what they are making (a jellyfish in a bottle) and why getting through the game and getting the plastic bag to an appropriate place is so important.
Monday, 27 March 2017
Playtesting with a grid
27 March 2017
Our meeting today included making the presentation slides for Interim, as well as playtesting our ideas so far to date. We made a Bottled Plastic Jellyfish, and taped a grid to the ground and went through it just as how the KCC would do if it was officially a game.
We found that it was quite difficult to play on a 7x7 grid, so making the grid a bit smaller would be crucial if 8-13 year old want to play it without losing motivation or getting frustrated. We also found that it is not visual enough, but can't quite come up yet with a final idea of how to approach this problem. We might need to do more playtesting and see what works best.
Our meeting today included making the presentation slides for Interim, as well as playtesting our ideas so far to date. We made a Bottled Plastic Jellyfish, and taped a grid to the ground and went through it just as how the KCC would do if it was officially a game.
We found that it was quite difficult to play on a 7x7 grid, so making the grid a bit smaller would be crucial if 8-13 year old want to play it without losing motivation or getting frustrated. We also found that it is not visual enough, but can't quite come up yet with a final idea of how to approach this problem. We might need to do more playtesting and see what works best.
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
Jellyfish in a Bottle
We found this activity that could possibly be used as an icebreaker where each child makes a jellyfish and then uses it as a 'token' which they must safely navigate through the maze- They have to get the plastic 'jellyfish' out of the ocean and to the recycling bin in order to prevent harm to sea life.
 |
| A small initial prototype made by Bryony |
Week 4 class
22 March 2017
Today we play tested our idea and came up with several ideas how our game could work.
As an ice breaker, we would get the kids to make their own "indistructable" jellyfish, in which they would need a clear plastic bottle, a piece of plastic bag, water and blue food colouring. The idea is that they would do an activity where everyone makes something they would use in the maingame, but they can also take it home as a reminder of what they've learned (and also as a souvenir ;) ).
The maingame there will be two grids, (inside: taped, outside: rope or other materials to visualise the grid). There will be two teams playing against each other. Each child is a scubadiver, that tries to get the plastic jellyfish out of the water, so that they realise that the 'jellyfish' is what sealife animals would see but in reality it is a plasticbag that is not naturally part of that environment.
We playtested our maingame with the bee team:
Further development and questions:
- Action tiles, instead of a grid are the spaces tiles that can be flipped over
- "fish out of water" the idea that the plastic bag only belongs in one place and the water is not correct - convey this idea
- is it a mythical creature, fictional character
- think about all elements - fire, plastic burns and releases chemicals into the air, water, air etc
- digital technology - is this something we could test with the kids, or does KCC want to encourage use of the environment and keep the kids away from technology?
- do players leave the boards/grid at any given stage?
- different shape to the board?
Over all it is GOOD BEHAVIOUR that we are trying to convey and educate the kids, but is our message education of the lifecycle of a plastic bag, or are we trying to educate them by influencing them to stop using plastic bags overall and use other options?
Possible Augmented Reality Research
Here are existing augmented reality mobile applications. They all mix together digital life with the real life in front of them.
Plastic Bag Development
- Plastic bag - each area could have to grab an object from each place
- 'clean up the space' in the area of play before starting the kids have to clean up the space and use the rubbish they find within the game - this is a potential problem with health and safety, the possibilities of rubbish is endless which could be a danger to kids.
- question how to make it scaleable, number of kids, size of grid, different materials, from tape and rope to a print out 'twister' like board size or larger
- Is there option for the kids to make up their own pathway - they be the narrator and designer of the correct route
- time element? The faster you go the better, or competition between two 'boards' - first one to get to the recycling as a whole team wins. The teams will collaborate together to help each other get through the maze/grid from the supermarket to the recycling through obstacles such as the beach, ocean, trees, street, waterway etc
- Role play of the plastic bag - we are currently imagining that the kids themselves are each "a plastic bag" and the narrative will relate to them as a plastic bag... "oh no you got caught in the wind..." is there a dress up/outfit that can be made so make them feel 'like a plastic bag'
- costumes - could this be the ice breaker, making them selves feel as though they are in fact a plastic bag that could blow away in the wind?
- icebreaker - effectively 'stuck in the mud' but each of them is a plastic bag and as they get stuck they turn into trees that catch plastic bags.
Sunday, 19 March 2017
Exercise: Gamefulness
Urgent Optimisim (Positive Emotions)
Social Fabric (Relationships)
Blissful Productivity (Meaning)
Epic Meaning (Accomplishment)
- plastic bag has to be recycled, conscious decision to do good
- picking recycling over the dump/environmental damage
- doubt in conventional disposal of plastic
Social Fabric (Relationships)
- working in teams, collaborating, trusting each other in terms of memorising
- rivalry, competitiveness. involve everyone
- communication between players to remember where not to go on the grid
- who's good a remembering, problem-solving, fast etc.
Blissful Productivity (Meaning)
- going square by square, step by step (small goals)
- being informed about recycling, team building
- one plastic bag seems like not a lot, but if all the kids when through the grid, it ends up a lot
Epic Meaning (Accomplishment)
- save the environment (all that shit ;) )
- if everyone's needs doing it, it will work
- life of a plastic bag
Week 4 Ideas
20 March 2017
What if the obstacles could be role played by children, pretending to be trees etc.?
And also what if certain journey will give a higher reward (plastic bag goes to recycling tip, is made into sustainable objects) compared to journeys that would mean polluting the environment (ocean, forest, etc.).
And also, what if we designed cards, that the kids have to pick, that would make the journey a bit trickier? Like cards that would get their brainjuices flow, like challenges etc.
What if the obstacles could be role played by children, pretending to be trees etc.?
And also what if certain journey will give a higher reward (plastic bag goes to recycling tip, is made into sustainable objects) compared to journeys that would mean polluting the environment (ocean, forest, etc.).
And also, what if we designed cards, that the kids have to pick, that would make the journey a bit trickier? Like cards that would get their brainjuices flow, like challenges etc.
Week 3 Game
- Start with 4 cards delt out by one dealer to the the rest of the players including himself.
- The dealer has the deck and draws 1 card and has to pass anyone of his cards off to the player to the right of him
- Continues until a player has a run of 3 then does a star jump to start the speed play for 30 seconds.
- Cards are traded in any direction with any players untill a full set is reach with no discussing during this period.
- If a full set is not reached the person doing a star jump is out.
- If full set is achieved pick up token and win.
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Week 3 thoughts and questions
- 1st person / plastic bag story narrative
- is there a home/half way base that acts as a "safe zone" if they have gotten so far, instead of going back to the start?
- each wrong tile of grid has its own story "oh no you got blown into a tree! Head back to the start and give another 'plastic bag' (player) a go"
- EASY - MEDIUM - HARD options, are there different variations of the game that can be suitable for the younger vs older kids, small and large grid game sizes
- one narrator in charge of conveying the narrative and story line, the "oh no" moments and the "well done - carry on"
- Visually how can we visualise it to make it more exciting than a grid?
- POSITIVE reinforcement - bring in some well done moments, focusing on the better actions hopefully to learn
- Is there more than one end goal?
- fork in the road/grid education taking players to either one of two options and they have to choose which they think is the best route for the plastic bag
- point system? How do the players or teams win?
- Dress up/role play
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
Jane McGonigal- Bryony
Jane McGonigal
- Jane McGonigal, is a world-renowned designer of alternate reality games — games that are designed to improve real lives and solve real problems.
- Her games challenge players to tackle problems, such as poverty, hunger and climate change,
- She believes game designers are on a humanitarian mission
- Her dream is to see a game developer win a Nobel Peace Prize.
- She has created and deployed award-winning games, sports and secret missions in over 30 countries on six continents, for many large and powerful organisations including the American Heart Association, the International Olympics Committee, and the World Bank Institute.
- She is the New York Times bestselling author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World
- She is the Director of Games Research & Development at the Institute for the Future, a non-profit research group in Palo Alto, California. Her research focuses on how games are transforming the way we lead our real lives, and how they can be used to increase our resilience and well-being.
- She is the founder of Gameful, “a secret headquarters for worldchanging game developers.”
- She has consulted and developed internal game workshops for more than a dozen Fortune 500 and Global 500 Companies, including Intel, Nike, Disney, McDonalds, Accenture, Microsoft, and Nintendo.
- She has appeared at TED and the New Yorker Conference, and keynoted SXSW interactive, the Game Developers Conference, the Idea Festival, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Web 2.0 Summit, UX Week, Webstock, and more.
Retrieved from: https://janemcgonigal.com/meet-me/ 14/03/17
Meta context
The pitch of our groups initial idea went really well. The idea of the journey of a plastic bag seemed to spark ideas in other peers making us believe that there are multiple options of game designs that we can embark in. The journey seems to be easily put into context as most if not all people can imagine a plastic bag and also the movement of one within the wind - creating strong imagery.
As a team we think we are going to make a Ludus game - something structured with explicit rules to gather and captivate kids within another world. We feel as though an element of risk would suit the journey of a plastic bag well, trying to get the players through to separate areas of where a plastic bag can or could go, the problems and strategies that could be at play to help the plastic bag reach a healthy or sustainable ending.
As a team we think we are going to make a Ludus game - something structured with explicit rules to gather and captivate kids within another world. We feel as though an element of risk would suit the journey of a plastic bag well, trying to get the players through to separate areas of where a plastic bag can or could go, the problems and strategies that could be at play to help the plastic bag reach a healthy or sustainable ending.
Monday, 13 March 2017
Game over... end of plastic
Plastic Free New Zealand is primarily based on 'our seas our future'. A campaign highlighting the effect of plastics and other human activity pollution on our environment, a promotion to use alternatives to plastic to reduce the threats plastic has to marine ecosystems and human health. Millions of metric tons of plastic pollute the world's ocean.
A constant circle is occurring where plastics come back and effect our human health when we eat seafood. Plastics choke the water ways, damages marine ecosystems, and become part of the marine food chain - eventually living within the foods we then consume. Plastic circulates in our environment floating, sinking and dispersing into microplastics that can be mistaken for food, moving up the food chain and causing a threat to us.
Ocean plastic, regrettably, results from human behaviour.
"I think the most powerful information is the human health factor," Streeter said "If people understand that the same issues that offend them (plastic on the beach) and distress them (animal's entangled) also extend to people, in terms of the toxins that are building up in our bodies because of all the different ways in which we are exposed to it, that will encourage change."
A constant circle is occurring where plastics come back and effect our human health when we eat seafood. Plastics choke the water ways, damages marine ecosystems, and become part of the marine food chain - eventually living within the foods we then consume. Plastic circulates in our environment floating, sinking and dispersing into microplastics that can be mistaken for food, moving up the food chain and causing a threat to us.
Ocean plastic, regrettably, results from human behaviour.
"I think the most powerful information is the human health factor," Streeter said "If people understand that the same issues that offend them (plastic on the beach) and distress them (animal's entangled) also extend to people, in terms of the toxins that are building up in our bodies because of all the different ways in which we are exposed to it, that will encourage change."
Jane McGonigal
Jane McGonigal is a game designer that focuses on the use of mobile and digital technology to channel positive attitudes into the real world context by combining the two worlds to enforce a game into real life situations. McGonigal believes that the encouraging and competitive aspects of a game should be integrated into our every day life. The psychology and sociology behind how we respond to games can be used to contribute to a positive and potentially different view of the world. To make changes to your life, to invest in your well-being and to make a difference all by playing within a massively-multiplayer forecasting game. She is the investor and chief creative officer for SuperBetter Labs - the game that builds your real life resilience and allows you to unlock personal achievements.
Her belief in this way of life helped her to over come her own personal health challenges, which began her journey with SuperBetter - allowing her to not only become better, but super better.
She has collaborated with Oprah Winfrey to direct the making of 'Oprah's Thank You Game' which aims to spread gratitude across the world. By using games, McGonigal aims to tackle the worlds most urgent challenges.
Jane McGonigal asks: "Why doesn't the real world work more like an online game? In the best-designed games, our human experience is optimized: We have important work to do, we're surrounded by potential collaborators, and we learn quickly and in a low-risk environment." - https://www.ted.com/speakers/jane_mcgonigal
Her belief in this way of life helped her to over come her own personal health challenges, which began her journey with SuperBetter - allowing her to not only become better, but super better.
She has collaborated with Oprah Winfrey to direct the making of 'Oprah's Thank You Game' which aims to spread gratitude across the world. By using games, McGonigal aims to tackle the worlds most urgent challenges.
Jane McGonigal asks: "Why doesn't the real world work more like an online game? In the best-designed games, our human experience is optimized: We have important work to do, we're surrounded by potential collaborators, and we learn quickly and in a low-risk environment." - https://www.ted.com/speakers/jane_mcgonigal
Week 3 Class
15 March 2017
Jane McGonigal Presentation
Ideas:
- start with military one and then flesh it out subjectively
- get Tripod & Camera at same spot
- duct tape for ground for grid
- filling in the bag with environmental residues like sand, leaves, sticks etc.
- obstacles that make journey difficult
- make journey map
Jane McGonigal Presentation
Ideas:
- start with military one and then flesh it out subjectively
- get Tripod & Camera at same spot
- duct tape for ground for grid
- filling in the bag with environmental residues like sand, leaves, sticks etc.
- obstacles that make journey difficult
- make journey map
Corina's Jane McGonigal Research
14 March 2017
From TED Talk:
- we don’t get the same type of feedback in real life as we do in games e.g. levelling up etc.
- Gamers are virtuosos at weaving a tight social fabric. There's a lot of interesting research that shows we like people better after we play a game with them, even if they've beaten us badly. And the reason is, it takes a lot of trust to play a game with someone. We trust that they will spend their time with us, that they will play by the same rules, value the same goal, stay with the game until it's over.
- Gamers are super-empowered hopeful individuals. These are people who believe that they are individually capable of changing the world. And the only problem is, they believe that they are capable of changing virtual worlds and not the real world. That's the problem that I'm trying to solve.
- I think, how we're using games today. We're using games to escape real-world suffering — we're using games to get away from everything that's broken in the real environment, everything that's not satisfying about real life, and we're getting what we need from games.
- games are a powerful platform for change. We have all these amazing superpowers: blissful productivity, the ability to weave a tight social fabric, this feeling of urgent optimism and the desire for epic meaning.
Links:
https://www.wired.com/2011/01/why-jane-mcgonigal-thinks-reality-is-broken-and-she-wants-to-fix-it/
http://www.npr.org/2015/03/27/394918832/how-can-video-games-improve-our-real-lives
http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world
http://www.ted.com/speakers/jane_mcgonigal
https://www.superbetter.com/
https://janemcgonigal.com/
http://lifehacker.com/im-jane-mcgonigal-game-designer-and-author-and-this-i-1727032851
https://www.wired.com/2011/01/why-jane-mcgonigal-thinks-reality-is-broken-and-she-wants-to-fix-it/
Jane McGonigal Reaserch
Jane McGonigal has a PhD and is world renowned for designing alternate reality games, or games that are designed to improve real lives and solve real problems. These problems include such as poverty, hunger and climate change, solved through planetary-scale collaboration.
She has created and deployed award-winning games, sports and secret missions in more than 30 countries on six continents, for partners such as the American Heart Association, the International Olympics Committee, the World Bank Institute, and the New York Public Library.
She is the founder of Gameful, “a secret headquarters for world changing game developers.”
In 2009, the struggle to recover from a brain injury had Jane McGonigal wondering if she would ever get better.
After months of anxiety, depression and cognitive challenges, McGonigal called on her years of game design and research to begin her recovery. She developed an app called Jane the Concussion Slayer. This went on to develop the SuperBetter app and program.
Whilst dealing with depression and anxiety she was waiting to heal, and my friends and family were having a hard time understanding what I was going through
To many of us tend to focus on what we have lost or what we feel we will lose, our weaknesses rather than our strengths.
There's nothing fun about surviving an illness or injury, but you can use the same psychological strengths and ability to focus on opportunities to get stronger, learn and connect with others. Games are an accessible and powerful structure for doing that.
The biggest obstacle to behavior change, or maintaining optimism and engagement with health care, is they don't have self-efficacy. They feel nothing they do matters
Tuesday, 7 March 2017
A Plastic Ocean
“A film that explains the problems about plastic ... that message can be spread by a film like this in a remarkable way,” Sir Attenborough says on the Plastic Oceans's website.
Journey Of A Plastic Bag
Due to plastic bag disposal being such a great issue for wild life and our environment we want to show its journey from distribution to the end goal which is the dump.
The game could be based of game of life where the bag could go to different areas depending on the users luck or choice. This means they could go to marine, rural and urban and other areas showing the multiple bad effects of plastic.
For game tokens we do not want to use plastic bags as it would contradict our message to not use bags as they are very harmful and could also be dangerous in the possession of young children.
The game could be based of game of life where the bag could go to different areas depending on the users luck or choice. This means they could go to marine, rural and urban and other areas showing the multiple bad effects of plastic.
For game tokens we do not want to use plastic bags as it would contradict our message to not use bags as they are very harmful and could also be dangerous in the possession of young children.
Corina's Research about ocean pollution, marine life, plastic pollution
8 March 2017
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/
http://www.ecologic.org.nz/?id=67&page=Environmental+problems+of+NZ+agriculture
http://www.terranature.org/environmentalIssues.htm
http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/environmental-policy/biodegradable-plastics-zmaz10jjzraw
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/
http://www.ecologic.org.nz/?id=67&page=Environmental+problems+of+NZ+agriculture
http://www.terranature.org/environmentalIssues.htm
http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/environmental-policy/biodegradable-plastics-zmaz10jjzraw
The Life of a Plastic Bag
The Majestic Plastic Bag - A Mockumentary
Week 2 Class
8 March 2017
Two ladies from KCC gave us a short lecture about their organisation and what they expect from us.
We then had a brainstorm about potential topics we'd be interested to explore.
Possible Metacontexts
We then talked to Chaz, he said that we are on the right track, and that we have a different approach to the topic than compared to other groups. He said that we might need to think about how we are going to incoporate younger children.
Independent Study
We are going to independently research the topic. Watch documentaries about the topic (e.g. David Attenborough - A Plastic Ocean).
Two ladies from KCC gave us a short lecture about their organisation and what they expect from us.
We then had a brainstorm about potential topics we'd be interested to explore.
Possible Metacontexts
- Plastic in sealife, could be a cardgame aka 'Get me to the dump'. Could teach kids how plastic affects the marine life, could potentially teach them later in life not to use plastic bags etc, responsible recycling of plastic. Sparks a kind of idea of the boardgame "The Game of Life"
- Tell the difference between marinelife and plastic (idea sparked by jellyfish/plasticbag)
We then talked to Chaz, he said that we are on the right track, and that we have a different approach to the topic than compared to other groups. He said that we might need to think about how we are going to incoporate younger children.
Independent Study
We are going to independently research the topic. Watch documentaries about the topic (e.g. David Attenborough - A Plastic Ocean).
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