I am designing a new Single and Multiplayer Game about Sexually Transmitted Infections that will be easily adjustable to play across multiple platforms; mainly developed for the Nintendo DS, but with plans to be tested as a web-browser based game. The focus of my thesis project will be the design of a unique mini-game, similar to many color based matching casual games, like Bejeweled and Snood. This mini-game will be a new approach to casual game design, combining different styles of casual gaming, and integrating them with the serious subject of Sexually Transmitted Infections. For my thesis project I will polish this mini-game concept and building design prototypes, featuring “screenshots” and “design diagrams”.
I plan on creating a Serious or Persuasive Game, which are defined by Wikipedia as “computer and video games used as persuasion technology or educational technology. They can be similar to educational games, but are often intended for an audience outside of primary or secondary education. Serious games can be of any genre and many of them can be considered a kind of edutainment.” The game will be based around educating players about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and proper safe sex techniques.
The game will follow in the footsteps of other Serious Games that aimed to educate and make players aware of different ideas and thoughts. This field is quite young, but already has one person who is regarded as a leader in the subject, Ian Bogost, founder of the independent game company Persuasive Games. He has designed many games ranging from the mundane of working at Kinko’s (Disaffected) and Coldstone Creamery (Stone City) to Airport Security and the crazy new enforcements (Airport Security). He has let you trade Bacteria Produce for the highest profits (Bacteria Salad), and let you change the price of oil by causing wars and natural disaster (Oil God). He has become a public defender for the oft demonized and crude statement on American culture, Super Columbine Massacre RPG! He has even developed games for political parties, trying to campaign in new ways (The Howard Dean for Iowa Game and Take Back Illinois). The problem I have found in each of these games is they are not very fun. While you can play them for a short amount of time and be entertained, there is no person who would seriously enjoy playing these games for hours, as many gamers do with some of the more popular games.
I hope to build on the idea of creating “Persuasive Games” in new ways, by creating games that are more fun and informing of sweeping epidemics, not just the latest news flash. The game will be aimed at educating players on the different diseases that affect all sexually active people, and also the most important ways to stay safe; using protection, being open with your partner, and mutual monogamy.
One of the most important things about my game, is it must be fun to play. Unlike Ian Bogost’s Persuasive Games that claims “Think Games are Fun? Think Again.” Stop The Infections will have to be fun! I want people to enjoy playing it even if any semblance of sex education is taken out. The core idea of the game must be fun; it does not just have to be educational and quite boring like many other Serious Games. For this reason I am trying to take as much inspiration from games I thought of as fun. But I still want the education to be embedded in the concept of the game. The aspects of the game that players learn from will work because it is part of the game, not just an after thought, added on at the last possible minute.
Examples of Games
Non digital:
One of the main concepts I plan on incorporating is the idea of matching similar objects. This is done in children toys, where they must put the proper blocks in the proper holes, as well as in modern card games like Set, where players must form sets of three with all of them having something in common and other things completely disparate. This idea allows for players to look at things in new ways, as they are forced to recognize slight differences and similarities in each of the cards. I hope to build on the idea of collecting similarities and even separating differences.
Casual Games:
The idea behind Bejeweled is simply matching objects with the same colors in to groups of three. The limitation is that players can only switch an object with one directly next to it. This forces players to search for groups of two that have a similar object near, or ways to move them together. This is similar to Snood, just done in a different way. In Snood, players must shoot balls at groups that have the same color to form groups of three or more. When that is done, all the connected balls fall off, giving the player points. I enjoy the ability to group these colors together and will be playing with the idea in my game, but rather than having them just disappear, I will have them appear on their teammate/ competitors screen. This will add a form of friendly competition, even though they should be working collaboratively.
Playstation Portable:
Another game that has inspired me is Loco Roco, a game that seems to be meant for that system it is played on, rather than being a port from a different system, such as the Playstation 2. It uses the controls and device as intuitive to the game, using mainly the shoulder buttons for any action, which consists of tilting the level to move around a blob as it eats flowers to get bigger and find friends, with one other button used in the rare occasion of breaking apart your blob into many little blobs. There are things I would like to have seen done with it, such as the ability to tilt the system to control it, but understand the problems that would have caused. I like the use of the system as inspiration for the game, rather than porting it just for porting sake.
Nintendo Dual Screen (DS):
While I don’t consider it a game, but more of a toy, I find Electroplankton to be a great inspiration. The use of the stylus on the DS was great, along with all the mini-games available. Unfortunately, I found the game to get very dull very quickly, as there is not much to do after playing with each of the “planktons”. Another great DS game would be Kirby’s Canvas Curse, which had a great use of the stylus right as the DS came out. It was very interesting and a great use of a new control. Rather than using the Directional Pad or any of the buttons to control the character, you would draw a line and Kirby, the main character who was just a circle, would use it like a ramp, speed up, or even a wall. They even added powers that Kirby could pick up, which could be activated simply by tapping on him. This novel control system remains one of my favorite first games for the DS, and still remains one of my favorite games for the system.
STI Research
One of my main goals is to not limit the game to educating about just HIV or just Herpes, or even just the ones with no cures. I want players to come away from this and know that the most important thing to do if something is wrong is go see your doctor. If you catch certain STIs early enough, you can easily cure them. Some of them can turn very bad the longer you wait. For my research into STIs, I created a spreadsheet, which contained lots of information about each one. I wanted to know the names of them, what type of infection are they (bacterial, viral, parasitic), how long they need to incubate, if there is a cure, symptoms, how they are transmitted, how common they are, what can prevent the spread, and even what happens if you don’t treat them. With this table created, I was able to get a great overview of all the STIs. I counted approximately 16 STIs, including all types of Hepatitis. I also found that certain ones are very similar, such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. Another interesting fact was how long many of the infections incubate, which can cause many people to be unaware that they are infected for quite a while.
The target audience would be anyone interested in learning about STI, but most suited for the most susceptible age demographic, people aged 15-24. I hope that many people past the age demographic choose to play the game, as it has been designed to be fun for everyone.
User:
Joe is a 19 year-old college freshman who enjoys getting drunk with friends, going to frat parties, and hitting on any girl that walks by him. He is thinking of joining a frat, but can’t decide which one is best for him. He is still undecided, but is leaning towards something in the sciences or bussiness. He has been sexually active before, with 2 of his High School girlfriends and 2 random girls in his first weeks of college.
Setting:
Joe is surfing the internet, messaging friends on MySpace and Facebook and looking through some sites he likes, in his dorm room at night. His roommate is studying behind him and there is very little conversation between them, as usual. All of a sudden he gets an email from his friend telling him to play this awesome game that opened his eyes.
Motivation:
The email is from a good High School friend, who goes to a different University, and knows what Joe likes. He decides to try it out, after all its called “Stop The Infections!!” He is not totally sure about playing a game about STIs, but likes to play other flash games on the internet. And after all, he likes sex, so how bad could it be?
Action:
He opens the game and is presented with the option of creating a profile and character or choosing from pre-made characters. He decides to create a profile, with his own character. He is first asked to choose the sex of the character; obviously he chooses a Male one. Then he is asked about a few questions about the character’s sexual history to determine whether or not he has already been infected with an STI: The questions include 1. “Has he ever had sex?”, 2. “How often does he wear protection?”, and 3. “How many partners has he had?” He is then given a prompt recommending that he“Go See the Doctor” in the game to test whether he is already infected. Joe decides not to see a doctor right away, but rather to just get started playing the game.
Joe chooses to take his character to a bar for the first location. There he sees a blond avatar at the bar, drinking by herself. Clicking on her, he approaches her and is given choices on what to say. He decides to pay her a compliment, and then decides to bestow it upon her earrings. The female avatar begins to smile, and asks Joes character to sit down next to her. He then asks what she is drinking, to order her another one. Paying her one more compliment, she tells Joes character that she is wants to go home, and invites him along. When they reach her place, Joe is asked whether he wants to discuss STI with her, or not. He does not want to ruin the mood, so decides to not talk about them. She then asks him if he would mind wearing a condom. He decides “Why not?” and chooses to wear the protection. He then begins to play the sex game, which is simply popping the bubbles, but for some reason certain bubbles are discolored and cause other bubbles to get discolored. There is also a thick line going across the screen, not allowing him to pass through it. After finishing the level, he decides to go to the doctor, where he finds out he has a curable STI. He is then given information on the infection and characteristics about it. He continues to play the game, finding many other partners, and sometimes playing without protection. After playing the game a while, and not using protection many times, he finds out he has been infected, but doesn’t know by what. He only knows what some of his symptoms are, such as “You have a pulsing sore, that is constantly oozing yellow puss.” He is then asked, “Would you like to see a picture?” He can then see a picture of the oozing sore and is told to go see the doctor to find out what exactly he has. The doctor diagnoses his particular STI, gives him an overview of the infection and tells him what can be done, in real life and the game. Some of them will have cures, others only have medicine that can limit its spread, all of which can be applied during the sex game. Joe continues playing until he gets fully infected with many diseases and dies.
Reaction:
After playing through the entire game in an hour, Joe decides to email his friends this game and begins to realize the importance of wearing a condom every time he has sex and to get himself checked ASAP!
I am going to create a Serious Game that is actually fun. I am using concerns about STI as a springboard for the game, and will make every attempt to create a game that is fun but also has a deep educational value. The hope will be to get people looking at games in a new way, along with recognizing the important aspects of STI and Safe Sex. In the end, I will attempt to create a good game that is also filled with important information for the players. I hope that anyone who plays the game will find it so informative and awakening that they recommend it to as many friends as possible. Ideally the game will grow virally, as players invite their friends to join in and play with them. Players can also interact with their friends, by playing the game specifically with them.
Making fun games about a serious topic is hard.
I plan on creating a Serious or Persuasive Game, which are defined by Wikipedia as “computer and video games used as persuasion technology or educational technology. They can be similar to educational games, but are often intended for an audience outside of primary or secondary education. Serious games can be of any genre and many of them can be considered a kind of edutainment.” The game will be based around educating players about Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) and proper safe sex techniques.
The game will follow in the footsteps of other Serious Games that aimed to educate and make players aware of different ideas and thoughts. This field is quite young, but already has one person who is regarded as a leader in the subject, Ian Bogost, founder of the independent game company Persuasive Games. He has designed many games ranging from the mundane of working at Kinko’s (Disaffected) and Coldstone Creamery (Stone City) to Airport Security and the crazy new enforcements (Airport Security). He has let you trade Bacteria Produce for the highest profits (Bacteria Salad), and let you change the price of oil by causing wars and natural disaster (Oil God). He has become a public defender for the oft demonized and crude statement on American culture, Super Columbine Massacre RPG! He has even developed games for political parties, trying to campaign in new ways (The Howard Dean for Iowa Game and Take Back Illinois). The problem I have found in each of these games is they are not very fun. While you can play them for a short amount of time and be entertained, there is no person who would seriously enjoy playing these games for hours, as many gamers do with some of the more popular games.
I hope to build on the idea of creating “Persuasive Games” in new ways, by creating games that are more fun and informing of sweeping epidemics, not just the latest news flash. The game will be aimed at educating players on the different diseases that affect all sexually active people, and also the most important ways to stay safe; using protection, being open with your partner, and mutual monogamy.
One of the most important things about my game, is it must be fun to play. Unlike Ian Bogost’s Persuasive Games that claims “Think Games are Fun? Think Again.” Stop The Infections will have to be fun! I want people to enjoy playing it even if any semblance of sex education is taken out. The core idea of the game must be fun; it does not just have to be educational and quite boring like many other Serious Games. For this reason I am trying to take as much inspiration from games I thought of as fun. But I still want the education to be embedded in the concept of the game. The aspects of the game that players learn from will work because it is part of the game, not just an after thought, added on at the last possible minute.
Examples of Games
Non digital:
One of the main concepts I plan on incorporating is the idea of matching similar objects. This is done in children toys, where they must put the proper blocks in the proper holes, as well as in modern card games like Set, where players must form sets of three with all of them having something in common and other things completely disparate. This idea allows for players to look at things in new ways, as they are forced to recognize slight differences and similarities in each of the cards. I hope to build on the idea of collecting similarities and even separating differences.
Casual Games:
The idea behind Bejeweled is simply matching objects with the same colors in to groups of three. The limitation is that players can only switch an object with one directly next to it. This forces players to search for groups of two that have a similar object near, or ways to move them together. This is similar to Snood, just done in a different way. In Snood, players must shoot balls at groups that have the same color to form groups of three or more. When that is done, all the connected balls fall off, giving the player points. I enjoy the ability to group these colors together and will be playing with the idea in my game, but rather than having them just disappear, I will have them appear on their teammate/ competitors screen. This will add a form of friendly competition, even though they should be working collaboratively.
Playstation Portable:
Another game that has inspired me is Loco Roco, a game that seems to be meant for that system it is played on, rather than being a port from a different system, such as the Playstation 2. It uses the controls and device as intuitive to the game, using mainly the shoulder buttons for any action, which consists of tilting the level to move around a blob as it eats flowers to get bigger and find friends, with one other button used in the rare occasion of breaking apart your blob into many little blobs. There are things I would like to have seen done with it, such as the ability to tilt the system to control it, but understand the problems that would have caused. I like the use of the system as inspiration for the game, rather than porting it just for porting sake.
Nintendo Dual Screen (DS):
While I don’t consider it a game, but more of a toy, I find Electroplankton to be a great inspiration. The use of the stylus on the DS was great, along with all the mini-games available. Unfortunately, I found the game to get very dull very quickly, as there is not much to do after playing with each of the “planktons”. Another great DS game would be Kirby’s Canvas Curse, which had a great use of the stylus right as the DS came out. It was very interesting and a great use of a new control. Rather than using the Directional Pad or any of the buttons to control the character, you would draw a line and Kirby, the main character who was just a circle, would use it like a ramp, speed up, or even a wall. They even added powers that Kirby could pick up, which could be activated simply by tapping on him. This novel control system remains one of my favorite first games for the DS, and still remains one of my favorite games for the system.
STI Research
One of my main goals is to not limit the game to educating about just HIV or just Herpes, or even just the ones with no cures. I want players to come away from this and know that the most important thing to do if something is wrong is go see your doctor. If you catch certain STIs early enough, you can easily cure them. Some of them can turn very bad the longer you wait. For my research into STIs, I created a spreadsheet, which contained lots of information about each one. I wanted to know the names of them, what type of infection are they (bacterial, viral, parasitic), how long they need to incubate, if there is a cure, symptoms, how they are transmitted, how common they are, what can prevent the spread, and even what happens if you don’t treat them. With this table created, I was able to get a great overview of all the STIs. I counted approximately 16 STIs, including all types of Hepatitis. I also found that certain ones are very similar, such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. Another interesting fact was how long many of the infections incubate, which can cause many people to be unaware that they are infected for quite a while.
The target audience would be anyone interested in learning about STI, but most suited for the most susceptible age demographic, people aged 15-24. I hope that many people past the age demographic choose to play the game, as it has been designed to be fun for everyone.
User:
Joe is a 19 year-old college freshman who enjoys getting drunk with friends, going to frat parties, and hitting on any girl that walks by him. He is thinking of joining a frat, but can’t decide which one is best for him. He is still undecided, but is leaning towards something in the sciences or bussiness. He has been sexually active before, with 2 of his High School girlfriends and 2 random girls in his first weeks of college.
Setting:
Joe is surfing the internet, messaging friends on MySpace and Facebook and looking through some sites he likes, in his dorm room at night. His roommate is studying behind him and there is very little conversation between them, as usual. All of a sudden he gets an email from his friend telling him to play this awesome game that opened his eyes.
Motivation:
The email is from a good High School friend, who goes to a different University, and knows what Joe likes. He decides to try it out, after all its called “Stop The Infections!!” He is not totally sure about playing a game about STIs, but likes to play other flash games on the internet. And after all, he likes sex, so how bad could it be?
Action:
He opens the game and is presented with the option of creating a profile and character or choosing from pre-made characters. He decides to create a profile, with his own character. He is first asked to choose the sex of the character; obviously he chooses a Male one. Then he is asked about a few questions about the character’s sexual history to determine whether or not he has already been infected with an STI: The questions include 1. “Has he ever had sex?”, 2. “How often does he wear protection?”, and 3. “How many partners has he had?” He is then given a prompt recommending that he“Go See the Doctor” in the game to test whether he is already infected. Joe decides not to see a doctor right away, but rather to just get started playing the game.
Joe chooses to take his character to a bar for the first location. There he sees a blond avatar at the bar, drinking by herself. Clicking on her, he approaches her and is given choices on what to say. He decides to pay her a compliment, and then decides to bestow it upon her earrings. The female avatar begins to smile, and asks Joes character to sit down next to her. He then asks what she is drinking, to order her another one. Paying her one more compliment, she tells Joes character that she is wants to go home, and invites him along. When they reach her place, Joe is asked whether he wants to discuss STI with her, or not. He does not want to ruin the mood, so decides to not talk about them. She then asks him if he would mind wearing a condom. He decides “Why not?” and chooses to wear the protection. He then begins to play the sex game, which is simply popping the bubbles, but for some reason certain bubbles are discolored and cause other bubbles to get discolored. There is also a thick line going across the screen, not allowing him to pass through it. After finishing the level, he decides to go to the doctor, where he finds out he has a curable STI. He is then given information on the infection and characteristics about it. He continues to play the game, finding many other partners, and sometimes playing without protection. After playing the game a while, and not using protection many times, he finds out he has been infected, but doesn’t know by what. He only knows what some of his symptoms are, such as “You have a pulsing sore, that is constantly oozing yellow puss.” He is then asked, “Would you like to see a picture?” He can then see a picture of the oozing sore and is told to go see the doctor to find out what exactly he has. The doctor diagnoses his particular STI, gives him an overview of the infection and tells him what can be done, in real life and the game. Some of them will have cures, others only have medicine that can limit its spread, all of which can be applied during the sex game. Joe continues playing until he gets fully infected with many diseases and dies.
Reaction:
After playing through the entire game in an hour, Joe decides to email his friends this game and begins to realize the importance of wearing a condom every time he has sex and to get himself checked ASAP!
I am going to create a Serious Game that is actually fun. I am using concerns about STI as a springboard for the game, and will make every attempt to create a game that is fun but also has a deep educational value. The hope will be to get people looking at games in a new way, along with recognizing the important aspects of STI and Safe Sex. In the end, I will attempt to create a good game that is also filled with important information for the players. I hope that anyone who plays the game will find it so informative and awakening that they recommend it to as many friends as possible. Ideally the game will grow virally, as players invite their friends to join in and play with them. Players can also interact with their friends, by playing the game specifically with them.
Making fun games about a serious topic is hard.