Teacher’s Guide to Game Play
Teacher’s Activity Guide: Kart Kingdom Recommended Grade Level: Early Elementary Suggested Time: 20-30 minute increments. Add 15 minutes for the first play session.
Overview Kart Kingdom is an online multiplayer game that allows players to create their own avatar and to customize a kart of their choice. This game will encourage players to use critical thinking skills to create systems. As a reward, players gain access to new levels. Players ride through the game using their kart to collect various items that accumulate, and can then be used in connection with each other. As players proceed to new levels, they are able to communicate with other players and complete community events that unlock rewards for all participants.
Goals After mastering this game, players will take away the following systems thinking skills: • Tools and gadgets they created to solve puzzles within the game. • Understanding of how components within the game interconnect and can be utilized. • Broadened understanding of problem solving individually and with others.
Key Thinking Strategies Players will use the following to complete this activity: • • • •
Gather resources to create gadgets. Think strategically in order to collect components. Build collaboration skills. Complete quests.
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Getting Started The first time players log in, guide them through this set up process 1. Identify a child who wants to play Kart Kingdom online or use the game app on a mobile device. 2. Instruct the child to go to pbskids.org/kartkingdom and have them press the PLAY NOW button, or launch the app from a mobile device. 3. Assist the child with creating a username and password. 4. Give the child time to customize their kart and character to their liking. (It can be changed later.) 5. Assist the child by teaching them how to play the game (instructions for how to do things can be found later in this guide).
Game Modes There are two main game modes: Quests and Minigames. Quests take you on a journey through various levels to find a certain number of animals. The players will use platforming and problem solving skills to move through the level, jumping on platforms, constructing power ups, and completing the goal.
In addition to social and critical thinking strategies, players will use these skills to complete this lesson: • Synthesizing • Making predictions • Connecting prior knowledge to new learning • Planning ahead • Learning to use technology in a pro-social and responsible manner • Gathering materials to craft unique objects that will allow progress to be possible later on in the game
Mini-games each have their own play style, and instructions are presented before each game starts. In these games, players will complete the objective and continue to the next level, gathering resources that can be used in quests or character customization, and developing problem solving skills, resource management skills, and pattern recognition skills.
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Screen Elements 1. Group manager: when in a group, clicking this icon will bring up the players in the group. 2. Map: in the main menu, this icon brings up all the different environments you can travel to. Clicking on a hub will teleport you to that hub. In a quest, it is located in the top right hand corner of the screen and brings up a map of the area to help navigate and complete the quest. 3. Crafting: click this icon to bring up the crafting menu. From there, you can craft power ups, gadgets, and other things. Inside a quest, it is located in the top right hand corner, next to the map. 4. Music: click this icon to toggle on and off the background music. This does not turn off the audio in videos that may be in the main hub advertising PBS Kids shows, like Wild Krats, or in mini-games. 5. Log off: this icon logs you off and returns you to the main screen. 6. Chat: click this icon to open up a series of predefined chat options to communicate with other players. 7. Emotes: click this icon to select an emote to display for others to see. 8. Dance: click this icon to select a dance for you to perform with your kart. 9. Quests: this truck is used to launch quests. There is one of these trucks in each main hub. 10. Mini-games: this tent is used to launch all the mini-games. 11. Parts: this trailer is used to customize your character and kart. 12. Craft It: this stand is an alternative way to open the crafting menu. 13. Gadget Pad: this is where you activate gadgets. Gadgets are crafted in from the crafting menu. 14. Collectibles: collect these bubbles to gather supplies to use in the crafting menu. Ten identical bubbles equals one part for use in the crafting menu. 15. Exit Door: these doors are used to teleport around the map to other doors that have been discoved.
Controls • • • •
Left Arrow: moves the character left. Right Arrow: moves the character right. Up Arrow/Spacebar: jump. Down Arrow: in the main hub, moves the character down, in a quest, activates either a gadget or a door depending on the where the character is. • Left Click: activates the icons on the top right hand corner of the screen, also used to craft things.
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Quests Quests send you on challenges to earn rewards. To find the animals, you will need to craft power ups. To craft power ups, you need to collect parts. Ten identical bubbles that you collect will reward you with one part that corresponds with that bubble. Open the crafting menu by clicking the button on the top right hand corner of the screen that looks like two tools crossed over each other. Select the item you wish to craft and then, if you have the recipe unlocked, drag the necessary parts into their spot to the left of the final product, then click craft. Power ups give you special powers needed in the game. When you have a power up, avoid jumping on the flying birds. With exception of the Rabbit power up, hitting a bird will cancel the power up. Go back to the landing pad and craft a new power up to continue. Leaving an area does not refresh the collectibles. To gather more resources, first click on the map, then click the go home button, and then, after you are transported back to the main menu, click on the quest giver and continue.
Mini-games Mini-games can be found in the tent that says ‘games.’ Each game has instructions explaining how to play through voiceovers. The better you do in the games, the more resources you obtain for use in the quests. The mini-games provide a venue for players to work on their problem-solving skills.
Customization To customize your kart and character, head over to the Parts trailer or Craft stand. The Parts trailer allows you to change the color of your character, wheels, hair, etc. The Parts trailer also is where you enter any secret codes taht you might have. The Craft stand is where you can craft things, like power ups for use in the quests, parts for your karts, and gadgets.
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Systems Thinking and Educator Tips The grown ups section of Kart Kingdom introduces systems thinking as follows: systems thinking means understanding how systems are interconnected and understanding the relationships among the dynamic components within those systems. A system refers to several different things that work together to create a whole, such as the pipes in the water system. Without the pipes, water cannot travel from the dam to your faucet at home. The idea of systems thinking is for an individual to understand what the system is and how it works. To be able to process using systems thinking is a crucial life skill for scientists, engineers, designers, etc. For a guide detailing the components of systems thinking, http://pbskids.org/kartkingdom/ grownups/SystemsThinkingGuide.pdf. Kart Kingdom can help kids understand systems thinking in a formal learning setting. It can be played in the classroom followed by discussion questions. Encourage your students to see these games as they were generally created, to be engaging and entertaining. Some discussion points or questions include: • Start a quest. Notice the components of the levels as you move through them. • Craft a gadget. What do you do in order to craft gadgets? • What are the components of the levels that you played through? How do they work together? • Think of a system you experience everyday. What are the components of this system? • How does a problem in one part of this system affect the use of this system as a whole? For an educator resource guide on Kart Kingdom, http://pbskids.org/ kartkingdom/grownups/EducatorResourceGuide.pdf.
Lesson Aids and Extensions • Teachers and parents can learn more about the development of Kart Kingdom by selecting the Grownups section at http:// pbskids.org/kartkingdom/grownups/. This site features information regarding Kart Kingdom rules, tips for playing, safety, and privacy. • For more fun, children can visit the Kart Kingdom blog at http:// pbskids.org/kartkingdom/blog. This site will allow participants to share tips, codes, create games, take pictures, and more. • For additional information on customizing karts, please see http://help.pbskids.org/support/solutions/articles/5000571306how-do-i-change-the-look-of-my-kartWSIU Public Broadcasting Kart Kingdom.
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