Freshmen Year is a game designed to introduce high school students to student life. Players will control a freshmen student. The game starts the weekend before school starts with moving in day. Mom and Dad are there to help you move boxes. The player will use the space bar to select a box and then use the arrow keys to move the boxes to the building and up the stairs.
Once the player has moved all the boxes, Mom will make sure that the player's bed is made because that is the most important part of a room. It doesn't really matter if a student's room is unpacked or organized as long as there is a place to sleep. Now it is time for the first shopping trip; Mom and Dad will provide $100 dollars for the essentials. The player will get to choose between expensive fresh fruits and vegetables or frozen burritos and top ramen, as well as some other choices in the grocery store. Once the player is done shopping, Mom and Dad leave for home and it is time for the real game to begin.
The first few days before school starts, but after they have moved up, they will get to socialize and meet new people by playing some mini games, such as volleyball, pinball, etc. The more mini games the player plays, the higher their social points will be.
School finally starts, and the player has to balance between classes, homework, social life, health and personal beliefs. All of the choices and mini games will be controlled by either the mouse or the arrow keys depending on the specific task.
The player does not have to go to class. They only have to show up for the tests, but if the player skips too many classes, then the tests they take will get harder. If they go to their classes, then they will get to read/watch/listen to (depending on the class) a short 1 minute lesson on common freshmen classes(English, Math, Physics, Creative Arts, and an intro to a major class). Homework will consist of reading a paragraph and answering three multiple choice questions. Homework and classes will prepare for the tests. If the student does their homework, then their smart points will increase. If the players do not do their homework then their smart points will decrease. They will continue to have the option to socialize by playing mini games. If a student has too low a social score, then they may become depressed or suffer a nervous breakdown.
Each day will last for 10-15 minutes and the goal is to make it to the end of the semester and pass finals, while balancing the rest of their lives. The student will have the option to sleep whenever they choose (if they go to sleep, then they will watch sheep for 30 seconds and then it will be the next day). 8 hours of sleep is recommended, but they can use the time however they want. Lack of sleep will lower health points. Students will also have to feed themselves. If they eat top ramen and other fast food, they will get more time, but their health points will go down. If they choose to cook their own fresh food, they they will sacrifice time for health. Players will also have the option to exercise by playing sports mini games. If they exercise, then their health points will go up. If a player has poor health, then they could be sent to the hospital or have other medical problems during gameplay.
Once a week on Sunday, the player will have the option to go to church. This will not affect any score, but if the player does choose to go to church, then some miracles might happen, such as better health, or improved test scores.
All of the classes build to the finals at the end of the semester. The higher the student's smart points the easier the final tests will be. The goal of the game is for the player to pass their finals without suffering a nervous breakdown, or being forced to drop out because of medical reasons.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Debt Ski - The (Un)Impossible Game
Debt Ski is a persuasive game about managing finances. The player controls a cute piggy bank on a jet ski (using the arrow keys to speed up and the space bar to jump) trying to pay for the necessities of life, while collecting more money than you spend and being happy. The player is also able to pay off their debt and might occasionally run into a tsumani which causes you to spend more money. The game can be played at a website called: indebted.
At first glance of the game, it seems like the point the game is trying to make is to save more than you spend. According to the rules, if you have too much debt the game will end, but there is no limit to the amount of savings you can have. The interest rates for the credit only go up when you fail to meet a payment, but the savings interest rates seem to go up steadily. If you are too busy trying to catch coins with your pig to pay attention to the fine print, then it is clear that savings are good and credit is bad by the colors. Your savings show up in a green box, while your credit shows up in a red box.
However, as I continued to play the game, I felt that the real lesson the game was trying to teach was if you fail to buy the things you need (called necessities during gameplay), then you will die. This is the reason that I have named this post the (un)impossible game. Although the rules of the game talk of victory conditions, no matter how hard I played, I could not purchase all of my necessities and the game would end. Unlike many other games, the player only has one life instead of three. You could go into debt and still play the next level, but if you failed to purchase the necessities then the game ends. I think that the game is telling me that if I don't buy food, I will starve and if I don't pay for electricity then I will freeze to death.
During gameplay, it is much easier to buy extra things like ice cream, airplane rides, and laptops than it is to buy the necessities. On the upper levels, you have to go out of your way to purchase the necessities, but the extras are always coming down and are often unavoidable. The game is making a statement, that although it is often much easier to buy things that are bright and colorful, you shouldn't purchase them until after you have bought the things that you need.
Debt Ski is a very entertaining, albeit frustrating game that teaches lessons about wants and needs in a procedural way.
At first glance of the game, it seems like the point the game is trying to make is to save more than you spend. According to the rules, if you have too much debt the game will end, but there is no limit to the amount of savings you can have. The interest rates for the credit only go up when you fail to meet a payment, but the savings interest rates seem to go up steadily. If you are too busy trying to catch coins with your pig to pay attention to the fine print, then it is clear that savings are good and credit is bad by the colors. Your savings show up in a green box, while your credit shows up in a red box.
However, as I continued to play the game, I felt that the real lesson the game was trying to teach was if you fail to buy the things you need (called necessities during gameplay), then you will die. This is the reason that I have named this post the (un)impossible game. Although the rules of the game talk of victory conditions, no matter how hard I played, I could not purchase all of my necessities and the game would end. Unlike many other games, the player only has one life instead of three. You could go into debt and still play the next level, but if you failed to purchase the necessities then the game ends. I think that the game is telling me that if I don't buy food, I will starve and if I don't pay for electricity then I will freeze to death.
During gameplay, it is much easier to buy extra things like ice cream, airplane rides, and laptops than it is to buy the necessities. On the upper levels, you have to go out of your way to purchase the necessities, but the extras are always coming down and are often unavoidable. The game is making a statement, that although it is often much easier to buy things that are bright and colorful, you shouldn't purchase them until after you have bought the things that you need.
Debt Ski is a very entertaining, albeit frustrating game that teaches lessons about wants and needs in a procedural way.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
What is reality?
When I was told I would have to create a blog for my class on video games, I thought long and hard about what I should name it. I didn't want to name it something boring like "Julie's Social Gaming Blog" or something. I finally decided on a simple question of which, I feel will become more unanswered and less clear as the semester goes on. I do not intend to answer this question. Rather I intend to blur the line between reality and everything else even more so.
During the summers I work at a marvelous place where children pretend to be space heroes and save the universe. (Did I just say pretend, because I am not sure that is the correct word. They are space heroes for several hours and they do save the universe.) When I am working on the bridge of the star ship, commonly the last thing I will say to them is that, "And now, unfortunately, it is time to transport you back to reality." Which comes from what the camp director would say to me when I was a camper there. Near the end of the camp he would say something to the effect of "then you will go back to reality." And we would all get sad.
I work in a place where imagination is King and the lines between reality and everything else are very blurred. The Christa McAuliffe Space Education is a marvelous place where children learn Social Studies and a little bit of Science through a simulation. For a couple of hours, they literally become the bridge crew of spaceships and have to defend their beliefs against opposing views, normally Romulans or something of the like. It is an experience like no other. The children are immersed in a story in a setting that tells them that it is real. (Now I know and they know that they really aren't astronauts in the 24th century, but for a few small hours they put on the WSOD {Willing Suspension of Disbelief} glasses and it seems real to them. They really make a difference in the lives of others (I know that the others are made up aliens), and also to themselves. They have proven to themselves that they can do something hard. The Space Center changes lives, creates teams, and teaches children in a way nothing else can do.
Now what on earth does this fantastical place where I spend my summers have to do with a class on the social aspects of video games, where we read books called "Persuasive Games"? I believe that the Space Center is the very type of persuasive game I will be studying this year. It is more than a video game, but it is very similar and has all of the aspects needed for it to be a game. It uses computers, stages, and imagination to create a learning environment full of procedures. The Space Center is the ultimate persuasive game, and it is my intention to use this place, this wonderful place as a theme to this blog.
I believe that blogs should be informal writing about things that the author knows personally. Although this blog is an assignment for a class, I intend to make it much more than that, and examine exactly why I love the Space Center in an academic pursuit.
Good night everybody. Coming soon will be what makes the Space Center a persuasive game.
During the summers I work at a marvelous place where children pretend to be space heroes and save the universe. (Did I just say pretend, because I am not sure that is the correct word. They are space heroes for several hours and they do save the universe.) When I am working on the bridge of the star ship, commonly the last thing I will say to them is that, "And now, unfortunately, it is time to transport you back to reality." Which comes from what the camp director would say to me when I was a camper there. Near the end of the camp he would say something to the effect of "then you will go back to reality." And we would all get sad.
I work in a place where imagination is King and the lines between reality and everything else are very blurred. The Christa McAuliffe Space Education is a marvelous place where children learn Social Studies and a little bit of Science through a simulation. For a couple of hours, they literally become the bridge crew of spaceships and have to defend their beliefs against opposing views, normally Romulans or something of the like. It is an experience like no other. The children are immersed in a story in a setting that tells them that it is real. (Now I know and they know that they really aren't astronauts in the 24th century, but for a few small hours they put on the WSOD {Willing Suspension of Disbelief} glasses and it seems real to them. They really make a difference in the lives of others (I know that the others are made up aliens), and also to themselves. They have proven to themselves that they can do something hard. The Space Center changes lives, creates teams, and teaches children in a way nothing else can do.
Now what on earth does this fantastical place where I spend my summers have to do with a class on the social aspects of video games, where we read books called "Persuasive Games"? I believe that the Space Center is the very type of persuasive game I will be studying this year. It is more than a video game, but it is very similar and has all of the aspects needed for it to be a game. It uses computers, stages, and imagination to create a learning environment full of procedures. The Space Center is the ultimate persuasive game, and it is my intention to use this place, this wonderful place as a theme to this blog.
I believe that blogs should be informal writing about things that the author knows personally. Although this blog is an assignment for a class, I intend to make it much more than that, and examine exactly why I love the Space Center in an academic pursuit.
Good night everybody. Coming soon will be what makes the Space Center a persuasive game.
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