ARGs in Education

Check this out, friends. This was the not-for-profit game Adrian was cryptically talking about when he emailed me all those months ago. If you are simply too lazy to click the link, basically it’s a competition to create a game that helps the work of Cancer Research. If you win, you get funding to design your game and Hon et al will support you.

 How freaking wicked is this – arrgh, simply too cool.

 Who wants to help me come up with an idea…I will obviously share the kudos – and I need a team of three people…

For future reference:

“Kids aspire to be older than they are at whatever age because, early in life, they recognize their position on the lower rungs of the social ladder. Hence retailers, like Borders, design spaces that encode both aspiration to older, more autonomous identities and distance from younger, undesirable selves. Any savvy package designer knows that a child’s product, if it is to have any chance on the market, must appear to appeal to the age group just older than the intended end-user. Something intended for a six-year-old boy will probably not do well if a six-year-old is pictured on it—better an eight-year-old.”

Source

Yeah that is so true – I was reading Just 17 when I was 11 and was reading 19 at 13.

BBC has relaunched its online Children’s offering – to some pretty negative comments from the kids, who are saying its too green (trying to hard to be gender-neutral), the logo is a wack (one commenter asked if it was responsible for the BBC to have a graffit tag-esque logo – i don’t see the graffiti ness myself, but it’s a valid and intelligent point) and its generally too busy – the users can’t find the content they like, and the fact you can click some of the wallpaper elements is too much.

Although I know people tend to hate change, I have to agree, and I think there is a danger of bombarding children with interactivity when it’s not totally necessary as it assumed their attention spans are so short they need to have things flashing and moving in all directions to keep them entertained. I was also very impressed by some of their comments – children aren’t stupid (but yeah they are precocious – The question asked was: Have you seen the brand new CBBC website? What do you think of the homepage? Do you like the new logo? What hidden items have you found? Have you tried clicking on the background images? [That's really covert, btw BBC])

“well ovbiously i have seen the new cbbc site, i would’ve had too, to even get to the message board. The homepage is cool, but there is way less buttons and too much flashy stuff and its harder to find things then on the old website. As to your question ‘Do you like the new logo?’ yes i do, its very nice, probably one of the best things out of everything. Also the background pictures are alright, but quickly get boring and unintresting and what are the coins for. CBBC needs to have a rethink about the site, keep everything the same but make it easier to find things. I hope my message gave you something to think about and hopefully it caused a bit of contreversy. (By the way i’m 12)”

I know I haven’t said much about the game, but rest assured I am still playing it. Initial thoughts below:

• Games are of two different type – investigative (go look around the web bring back the info) or more ‘practical’/arcade (guide the ball to the hole via obstacles)
• It’s designed a bit like the film SAW, so it is sufficiently creepy
• The in-game emails work differently to Jamie Kane. They offer further information to the games and give you hints and tips. They are from other investigators working on the case. In Jamie Kane, they were chiefly there to tell you to resume playing. As IM comes on a CD, there would be no need for those types of email…Both types of communication have different functions, but each work suitably well. If I was doing an ARG for younger children, I would keep circumstantial information to a minimum
• As Neil raised in the comments, the issue with CDs is not who holds the physical CD, but how many licenses there are…I’m thinking just put it on the web for free, altruism at its best. Users don’t expect to pay for things these days.
• The in-game sites are a little basic (could be down to the age of the game [4 years]) so when you access one, you know you are in the right place. They all share very similar conventions – e.g. a drop down box on the left to choose language - I will provide screengrabs
• As the game is quite old, there are a number of walkthroughs on the Internet, so if you are searching for a clue, the walkthrough will tend to be at the very top of your search results. Annoying, but something to consider….maybe there does need to be a shelf life on ARGs…otherwise the playability is compromised quite easily

This week is My Week Off, where I was planning on playing Cathy’s Book and In Memoriam. Cathy’s Book, I did within an few hours of receiving it and In Memoriam was broken – I installed it, but I couldn’t receive any emails from the game – I couldn’t even register my email address. Was peeved, yes.

However this is now changed thanks to an email to tech support, who responded within 10 mins!  The game is now working and I’m good to go. Yesterday, I finally managed to rig up my wireless router sans instructions and installation cd, all thanks to Tech Support.

Thanks TS. You rock.

OK, so that was suitably lame, but it had to be said.

An Introduction to ARGS is a simple presentation I put together for my employers, so it may be useful for the uninitiated. Comments, as always, welcomed.

I was supposed to wait for my week off, but I couldn’t help it, I’ve started Cathy’s book, and by start, I mean I’ve finshed the narrative, without partaking in any of the ARG as yet, but ready to go. Whoo. I don’t want to spoil the story, for anyone that plans to read it but it ROCKS. I was a bit WTF, but it was just so good. It’s a book for teen girls, but I guess that’s what I still am, at heart *cue violins*.

Initial points of note:
1. There is, now obvious, thinking about it, an English version of the game (which save us in the UK calling US phone numbers). To kick off, you had to email cathy@cathysbook.co.uk. Although I have the US version, I sent and email and I see I have an email already. Coolness. That’s something to thinking about – if you were doing and E-ARG, UK wide, you would need the numbers to be cheap so Eire and others could get involved with limited expense to the users. Local rate or freephone numbers it is then. Or Skype. Whoo. I nearly forgot about Skype.

2. There is definately some CoverGirl cosemetics product placement going on, and there is a business card from a company called BeingGirl.com, the ‘nice, caring face’ of P&G, who make and sell Tampax and Always Ultra Plus with Wings and a swimming float or whatever the latest super-asborbant add-on is. EdComs used to work with them, coincidentally.

3. There are forums.

4. 42 Enertainment are the writers. Note to self: Email Sean Stewart for dissertation.

**UPDATE**

Re 1: It’s not an English version per se – you just use the Double Talk Wireless site to listen to the voicemail, which is what the other users should do to save some cash.

I also completed parts I and II of MSN’s Conspiracy in a few hours.

It’s a pretty standard Adventure/Point and Click game – my favourite genre. A friend of yours, a proffesor has been abducted so you go to his house, with your colleague (and lover, apparently) Anna, to solve a range of puzzles, using their search facility.

The game is alright, but Anna spoonfeeds helps you look in the right place, by actually telling you what you need to. I have to say, if I completed both parts in around 6 hours, its too easy. But the activities where good, and commerically, it did make good use of Live Search. However, I was tempted to Google. Habit, I guess.

Another thing – as the games get older, and players write about the games on line, you inadvertantely come across walkthroughs if you type in the clues you have. I did have to do a few rapid scroll downs. Arggghh, my eyes! I don’t want the answers.

So this made me think of all the adventure games I wanted to complete/start:

• Broken Sword (the last one)
• Grim Fandango
• The 7th Guest
• 11th Hour
• Maniac Mansion
• Monkey Island (all of them)
• Evidence: The Last Report (This game is a sore point in our family – isn’t it)
• In Memoriam - I’ve never seen this one before until today, its an ARG apparently. This is on the wish list for payday, and will hopefully do a study of it – seeing how the ‘CD-ROM’ model works. First impressions for use in an educational context – not sure, on a practical level. Who owns the CD? Do you need to order one for each student? Would it need to be installed on every computer in the school? Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Crikey, I was having a browse of the ‘unforums’ at Unfiction where I came across a list of ARG hints and tips. I’m amazed at the geniusity – checking the source code of sites and looking at inconsistencies in the html!? Amazing lengths, right? While I couldn’t use this level of complexity in an educational ARG, it’s a good place to start – think how these techniques could be reduced for a younger/less seasoned audience and test them out.