MY 1st
alien My First Alien
PROJECT B Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: In Progress | Winter 2011
DESIGN STATEMENT
My First Alien is an interactive story game that leads children through a fun narrative while educating them on simple subjects like math, science and reading. In the game, the player would start of in their back yard playing where they would find a mysterious creature (an alien). They would make the alien into a sort of pet or family member (Alf anyone?) which would be a loveable trouble maker that leads the child on an adventure. Throughout the game the goal would be to continue the narrative of the story while engaging the child in fun educational questions/problems they would have to solve at the same time. For example, when examining the alien the narrative might say “The creature was very strange indeed - it had three eyeballs and four hairy toes on each foot!” at that time a question might pop up on the screen that said “4 hairy toes + 4 hairy toes = ?” and offer the children a choice of three answers. that they would have to answer correctly to move forward. The game would be flash-based and could easily be made available on educational websites for free. I see it as a type of game that would be split into chapters - and every so often a new chapter would be released to keep the child’s interest. I would be designing the first chapter in the series for this class.
AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT
I played many educational computer games as a child and I always found them more fun than simply studying out of a book. I think this takes that idea to the next level, in that children will be able to participate in the narrative and come back to play new chapters as the story and questions progress. Children are the audience and ages 7-9 would be the target age group. I plan to conduct more research about questions that are appropriate for those grade levels.
MOTIVATION
Like I stated above, I played many educational computer games as a child. I also read alot of books. I think what was missing was the combination of both, after looking over my initial ideas I realized that I could combine two things I was interested in creating (a story and an educational game) into one interesting educational tool. Game design is not my focus, but interactive design and (eventually) becoming an educator, is. I think this will help me branch out design-wise and think of education in my work (even if the audience is a bit younger than the students I plan to teach).
My First Alien
PART 1: PROPOSAL Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: In Progress | Winter 2011
Alien Character: To the right is the visualization of the alien that the main character Sally O’Malley finds in her backyard. As the story progresses the character will learn more about the Alien’s likes and dislikes, where he is from, how old he is, etc. Sally will name the alien “Larry” in an attempt to make him seem more “human.” The bottom right is a visualization of Larry’s spaceship, which Sally will also find in the backyard during the game.
My First Alien
PART 2: VISUALIZATION Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: In Progress | Winter 2011
Main Character: On the top right is the visualization of the main character of the story game, Sally O’Malley. Sally is a precocious 8 year old girl with a penchant for trouble. During the course of the story Sally will find the alien in her back yard and adopt him as a sort of alien “pet.” As Sally learns, so will the children who play the story game. Game Logo: On the bottom right is the logo for the My First Alien story game.
MY 1st
alien My First Alien
PART 2: VISUALIZATION Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: In Progress | Winter 2011