The other day, I wrote about discovering an oddly disjointed video game that used the act of writing as part of the game play. It was strange, but fascinating. So, I wondered if I could use the idea of writing for a video game in Gamestar Mechanic. You can play my Writer’s Block game here or in the embedded version below. The tools in Gamestar were fairly restrictive for what I had in mind, and so, the game did not really develop as I envisioned it. Still, I liked the second level the best — where the removal of blocks uncovers texts that make up a poem.
Peace (in the game),
Kevin
Nice game, Kevin. Great job for one night’s work. Level two is definitely developed. I look forward to the other levels as they develop as well.
I plan to link to this game, or embed it, in my writing club’s Write Group wiki. I am sure my fellow writers will enjoy it, particularly as it develops.
I think the winner should receive a summary of the poem, with perhaps the verses he or she found highlighted, or maybe with only the verses he or she found shown, so encouraging another round in the game.
Can the block faces be customized? For instance, can the wall blocks look like writing obstacles (distractions, blank or half-written pages, etc.), and the path blocks have single words or phrases (not necessarily legible nor related) so the player gets the sense of progressing in writing? And can the packages scattered about offer something, perhaps verses of the poem? Just suggestions, made with no understanding of the limitations of Gamestar.
Thank you for this distraction. I look forward to future versions.
Kevin,
This is so cool! I am going to use it during our Writing for Change Academy sometime this week. You never cease to amaze me!
Oh, and we are setting up blogs for my classroom next year, what did you use for your students? Do you have samples?
I agree — great job for one night’s work. Would you embed this over at Gamiacs in NWP Connect so that we have it there for the folks starting to join?
(http://connect.nwp.org/nwp-gamiacs/)