PLATFORM
Windows
GAME ENGINE
Unity
ROLE
Game Design, Writing, Research
PROJECT LENGTH
5 months
MY CONTRIBUTION
- Game Design (e.g. system design, encounter design)
- Writing of Dialogue/ Narration of Game
- Research for relevant topics like teaching of emotions, therapeutic methods for people with autism, interests and characteristics of target group
- Communication/ inclusion of experts and target group into the design process
The Core
Everyday Adventure is the prototype of a virtual, story driven RPG that combines Social-Emotional Learning with the benefits of entertaining game design and appealing visual design.
The Concept
The serious game aims to teach a practical and structured approach for handling emotions within social interactions and is targeted towards young adults on the autism spectrum. Target audience and experts like psychologists, therapists and social worker were included into the design process. The game was play-tested by multiple young adults on the autism spectrum.
In various scenarios, the emotions of the other person should first be recognized and then the situation should be mastered through the selection of suitable reactions and the bond with the conversation partner strengthened.
As the game designer of the team I was responsible for creating the basis for our game. My contribution was to design the core of the turn-based combat which should deliver an enjoyable gameplay experience while fulfilling the set educational purpose of the project.
Flow chart of social encounter within game
Phase 1 of social encounter
Phase 2 of social encounter
Features
- Round-based system which represents social interactions
- Wise mentor which supports the player before and after the next encounter
- Beautiful pixel-art
- Relaxing overworld where the player can move freely
Challenges
A key challenge of this project was how to transfer the concepts of emotions and social interaction into simple and abstract mechanics, which still represent the core of how real emotions and a real social interaction work.
First step for the development was thorough research in multiple fields. Knowledge about emotions, the autism spectrum, social interaction, the process of social emotional learning and game design for an educational purpose had to be compiled. I started by defining the learning objectives and added then the game mechanics which fulfill the purpose of teaching and entertainment. See the defined flow of mechanics to portray and train social interactions on the pictures below.
The concept is inspired by the framework for serious games created by Stavros Tsikinas and Stelios Xinogalos (2020), which is based on well-founded research and developed for applications addressing people within the autism spectrum.
