Game design │ 2023
Learning through play – How does hail form?
The Natural History Museum gave a task to create an educational game for their exhibition "Dangerous Weather Phenomena in Estonia." When creating the game, I decided to focus on hail. More specifically, how it forms and what damage it can cause.
Most people are unaware that hail is a damaging weather phenomenon that is becoming more frequent. Larger hailstones can, for example damage vehicles, and in the worst-case scenario, hail can cause physical injury to people.
Supervisor
Rene Rebane
Time
Feb 2023 – May 2023
Game
My solution is a game in which museum visitors take on the role of a hail cloud. Their goal is to create the largest hailstones possible. They can achieve this by keeping the hailstones that form during the game in the air for as long as possible using the stompingpads in front of the screen.
The player stomps on the stompingpads with their foot, imitating the wind that affects the formation of hailstones. The longer the hailstones remain in the air, the larger they become. The game ends when the hailstones become too heavy for the user to keep them in the air.
The same is true in nature: the longer air currents keep hailstones in the air during their formation, the larger and more dangerous they become. At the end of the game, an animation and text appear explaining the damage that the hailstones created by the player can cause.
Impact
Games create a memorable experience, allowing players to retain more information.
Mäng õpetab, kuidas rahe tekib, missugust kahju võib rahe teha. Külastajakogemuse vaatest oli eesmärgiks mitmekesi mängitavus ja kehaline aktiivsus – et mängijad saaksid liigutada. Mängu loomisel seadsin sihiks aktiivselt haarata külastajaid tegevusse. Seepärast on mängu üheks põhiliseks kontrollimise viisiks lõõtsadel hüppamine. Lõõtsad loovad ka parema seose tuule ja mängija vahel. Külastajat tegevusse haarav mäng aitab muuta muuseumi ajaveetmise paigaks – muuseum pole enam passiivne infopunkt.
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