process
We wanted to create a game that would enable students to better understand the complex issue of climate change through passive learning.
In order to create a basis for ourselves, we initially worked theoretically, collecting ideas on post-its and documenting everything in text form. We have made sure that everyone understands the impact of our game mechanics and objects in the game. This especially helped us to reduce very complicated considerations and discussions.
We had different ideas in mind about how the game might look like. That's why we interrupted the theoretical work and developed a common visual approach on the whiteboard, which we quickly implemented digitally. To avoid getting lost in details, we only used simple shapes and emojis for a start.
After the first digital prototype was finished, we took another step back and crafted a paper prototype. This allowed us to communicate spontaneous ideas better. We also considered how we could prepare a working prototype for the upcoming user testing. Finally we decided to develop an onboard tutorial of the game, where the player became familiar with our interface and the game mechanics.
We spent a lot of time designing the second prototype after agreeing on the mechanics and structure.
The user testing was successful for us and we were motivated to incorporate the feedback received from the test subjects into our prototype. We thoroughly revised the design once again.
These numerous iterations ensured that we had to deal with the game mechanics, storytelling and a playable intuitive UI down to the smallest detail.
first prototype to show our idea
second prototype for user testing
final prototype
paper prototype sketches
sketches
user testing
current status
The game is available as a click prototype and includes the following narrative development stages.
The player is sent back in time as a last resort to save the world from climatic doom. He operates in the game on three different levels to achieve this goal.
At the lowest level he decides on the development of a country and builds up a climate-friendly infrastructure and develops new sustainable technologies one after the other. He can also improve these with the help of points.
On the second level, he receives missions that affect the entire country, unlocking new regions. Clever decisions are essential. The player should learn from the consequences and dependencies of the energy revolution that the development cannot simply be linear.
At the same time, he must always meet the needs of humanity in the areas of"energy","environment"and"mobility".Keeping the balance is one of the most important tasks.
On the third level, the player tries to form alliances between countries in order to jointly establish a sustainable approach to nature and resources.
my role
We divided the tasks between us over and over again, so everyone had their own area of responsibility and a fresh look when they couldn't get any further. At first we worked together on the concept. Later I took more care of the visual design. So I did sketches, created the paper prototype and designed the map of our game.
For the video documentation my part was the animation of our prototype. You can watch it below. Besides, I designed our title design and reviewed the cut.
outlook
The concept of the game works and is coherent in itself. Nevertheless, there are of course many possibilities for potential further development.
On the one hand, the story of the game can be expanded to give the game a soul and to be able to enrich the background story further.
The creation of a motion prototype would be another kind of enhancement. Animations can make the game more lively. Objects move individually, the interactive world becomes more tangible and transitions in the user interface allow for a better understanding.
The integration into the lessons can be made possible by the development of different scenarios. This allows teachers to adapt tasks to the curriculum and to their own lesson structure. In campaigns, students could compete against teachers or classes and schools could challenge each other.
This project was developed within the course "Schon wieder Erdkunde???“ (Geography again???) by Dorit Mielke at the UAS Potsdam in cooperation with Cornelsen.