Digital Writing Month: Game off/Game on

Digital Writing Month game2
This really is what happened to me with my video game project for Digital Writing Month. I had begun to create a game in which I was seeking to represent some of my ideas around digital writing. I was two and a half levels into the game design when I realized: this is not working. If you have never dipped your toes into game design, the use of symbolism is important, and here, as I tried to “represent” digital writing within a video game format, it just fell apart on me.

So, I rebooted.

I deleted all of that work and sat back down with an empty piece of paper (interesting how a digital project originates from the tried and true, isn’t it?) and came up with a new idea. This one has to do with a single level, in which the letters of the hashtag of #digiwrimo would have to be navigated. Each letter would have some sort of challenge but the player would have journey through or over the letters themselves. Meanwhile, I would add a bonus level down below the main game where one could experience Twitter vs. Zombies, and also a place of collaboration with sprites helping the player through a maze.

It worked, and I am still tinkering with the game, so it is not quite ready for primetime. BUT, check out the map that the site I use — Gamestar Mechanic — has added as a feature. This new tool allows you to get an image map of the levels of games that you create. Which is perfect for sharing in this case, since you can clearly see the DIGIWRIMO letters that form the centerpiece of my game.

digiwrimovidgamemap

Peace (in the game),
Kevin

 

4 Comments
  1. I just wanted to say how inspiring you’ve been during Digital Writing Month! Not only are you taking on every challenge–including game design–but I personally appreciate the way you engage with others via comments. There are so many of us in education who want to engage in conversation via our digital writing, and yet so few of us see this through by way of commenting in the conversations others are instigating. (And even more absurd, we then complain that no one is commenting on our posts.) Thank you, Kevin, for being an example of an engaged (not just networked) individual.

    • Thanks
      I tend to think of it as I tell it to my own kids and students: if you want to have friends, you need to be a friend. If you want people to comment, you need to comment. And on the larger issue, if we really believe that online writing opens up different avenues for shifting the writer-reader relationship, then we need to help make that happen and pay attention to the results. So, I comment to get engaged with writers (who often don’t respond) and to allow myself a chance to reflect (I am a true believe in writing-to-learn).
      I appreciate you coming on by and spending a moment to comment.
      Kevin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *