Project A

The midterm project!

PDFs

Here are the pdfs for each section of this project:
Unit 2 - Proposal
Unit 3 - Sketches
Unit 4 - Visualization
Unit 5 - Final Project

Final Product

Begins With...

Begins With is a board game to challenge children with basic literacy and counting skills. The object is to move an avatar around the board. Each turn a player draws a card and looks at the included picture/letter hints. The player must then sound out the word and tell the other players the letter the object on the card begins with. If the player names the letter correctly they may roll a die and move their avatar the corresponding number of spaces. The first person around the board wins!

For instance, if at the beginning of my turn I drew a card with a picture of a banana on it, the card would say _anana at the bottom of it and I would have to say the letter "B". I would then discard my banana card and roll the die. If I rolled a 3, I would move my avatar forward 3 spaces.

Design Statement

The idea of Begins With is to encourage literacy and other basic skills in young or special needs children. One stage of literacy development in children is the ability to match sounds and letters. For instance, the sound of "apple" with the beginning letter A. The game also helps with basic counting skills - moving an object in a perfect one to one ratio with the count (not one or two spaces for a count of three).

Audience and Context

The audience of Begins With is ultimately children learning to read. However, to be played correctly, this game would be played with the supervision of an adult. So the context is really a family environment or a play-date between a few children with direct Adult involvement. An alternative context could be a school setting, including a special needs classroom, with teacher supervision.

Motivation

My own motivation is to continue a theme from my undergraduate studies - Begins With is actually a flash-based digital game with audio where you try to match a letter with an object. "If I say the letter B, you would click on the picture of a Banana." In this version I'm taking the same goal, but giving it different dynamics.

The motivation of the players would be the dynamics of playing a game in a group, the challenge and competition of the game, and the potential to learn. For adults, a motivation is to spend time as a family and help their children develop basic counting and literacy skills.

Game Changes

I made several updates to my initial proposal, storyboards and sketches. I will detail each with the rationale behind each change:

Spinner - I took out the spinning mechanism because I felt a die would be easier to use for the children. If you have ever seen a child use a spinner, it's sometimes awkward and doesn't work well. I replaced the spinner with a giant 2-inch foam die to encourage excitement. The hope is that each child will want to throw the die, so it will be a motivational tool to answer the question correctly and stay engaged. In the user testing the players did enjoy the large soft die.

Board layout - The board layout is now square rather than wavy. This changed for a number of reasons - the first reason being the removal of the spinning mechanism. Another reason for the change was to make the board simpler. I chose to make fewer but larger "spots" on which each player would place their avatar. This change allows for quicker games and easier game play.

Cards - Originally each player drew a number of cards and kept them in their hand, then had to pick the one that matched the letter spun. Again, children have small hands and a hard time holding a number of cards. Instead, I decided to simplify the mechanics to allow each player to draw and discard each turn so that no cards are held long term. It allows the children to keep their hands free and focus on the game rather than the tazsk of holding the cards.

Pawns - I had originally imagined small "pawns" as the player avatars. Instead I am using brightly colored jacks. The size and shape help remove the potential chocking hazard pawns would have introduced.

Alphabet Cards - I actually added alphabet cards. These cards are simply cardstock printed with each letter of the alphabet. The idea is to help children remember the their letters as they attempt to answer the questions.

Game Contents

The game package contains:
1 - Game board
1 - Die (2 inch, 6 sided yellow foam)
1 - Rule sheet
5 - Alphabet "cheat sheet" cards
5 - Game pieces (pink, orange, blue, green, yellow)
26 - Game cards (one card for each letter of the alphabet)

Rules

These rules are also included in the game:

Overview

Begins With... is designed for 2-5 players to be accompanied by an adult or "facilitator". The players will engage in the actual game play, while the facilitator's job is to ensure the correct answers are given and to provide game balance.

Setup

Each player should choose a piece to represent him or her on the board. Place each piece on the blue beginning square. Place the game cards, shuffled and face down, onto the checkmark or "draw" pile. As needed, distribute the alphabet "cheat sheet" cards to each player.

Game Play

Every round each player draws a card from the draw pile. Moving clock-wise around the board, each player must say the letter that completes the blank on the card drawn. If the player gets the answer correct, they may role the dice and move their game piece forward that number of spaces.

At the end of each round all used cards are placed on the discard pile. Should the cards run out, the discard pile should be reshuffled and put back underneath the draw pile.

Alternate Play

To make the game harder for certain, or all players, the facilitator may ask 1 question to accompany each card. Such as:

"Where does this object grow? In a tree, bush or in the ground?"
"What color is that object?"
"What sound does that object make?"

The facilitator may require the correct response to both the letter and extra information before the player may move forward their rolled number of spaces.

Alternatively, the extra question may be seen as a bonus question, allowing the player to move one additional space with the correct response.

End Game

Once the first player reaches the orange ending square, the rest of the round should be completed. If more than one player gets to the ending square, the result is a tie. If only one player makes it to the ending square that round, they are declared the winner.

Sketches

Here are the final sketches.

Proposal

Philip Likens
ITGM 705
Professor David E. Meyers
Project A: Proposal

Begins With...

Begins With is a board game with a spinner in the center of the board. The object is to move an avatar around the board. Each turn every player draws a card and keeps a set of cards in their hand. Then a player will spin the spinner and land on a letter. If the player can play a card with an object that begins with the letter spun, they get to move forward. Additionally, there is a bonus on the card. The first person around the board wins!

For instance, each turn we draw a card and spin the spinner. If the spinner came up as a B, and I had a card with a banana on it, I would play my banana card. I would get to move my avatar forward 1 space. I would then try to answer the question included on the card: Where does a banana grow: In a bush, in a tree, or in the ground? If I said bananas grow in trees, I would get to move forward once more.

Design Statement

The idea of Begins With is to encourage literacy in young or special needs children. One stage of literacy development in children is the ability to match sounds and letters. For instance, the sound of "apple" with the beginning letter A.

Audience and Context

The audience of Begins With is ultimately children learning to read. Ideally this game would be played with the supervision of an adult, between a few children. So the context is really a family environment or a play-date between a few children with direct Adult involvement. An alternative context could be a school setting, including a special needs classroom.

Motivation

My own motivation is to continue a theme from my undergraduate studies - Begins With is actually a flash-based digital game with audio where you try to match a letter with an object. "If I say the letter B, you would click on the picture of a Banana." In this version I'm taking the same goal, but giving it different dynamics.

The motivation of the players would be the dynamics of playing a game in a group, the challenge and competition of the game, and the potential to learn. For adults, a motivation is partly to spend time as a family.

Ideas

Slide Calendar

It is both interactive and non-digital in that you must slide the calendar over at the beginning of every month to the correct starting day in order for it to display properly. I would classify it as an information system - it is informative at its core. The layout of the number on the calendar for jan 2010 looks something like:

0 || 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 || 3 4 5 6 7
2 || 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ||10111213
9 || 10111213......||

Color Game

For children trying to learn about colors, mixing colors, etc. A board game like most others - start at one end of the road, move along the road over the game, get to the end. The first one to get to the end wins. The twist would be the color cards and some way of asking for a color. So it might look something like - you spin a spinner and roll a dice. The spinner tells you a color and the dice tells you a number. If you have the color shown, or can make the color shown, using the cards in your hand, you get to move your avatar whatever number of spaces the dice dictates. I have to think more about the actual game dynamics - but it's a start.

Starts With...

I made a version of this game in undergrad for use with small children and/or special needs kids (I have a friend whose son is autistic). The previous version was digital though and had totally different dynamics even though the end point is the same.

The idea would be to move an avatar around the board by answering questions correctly. The questions would be based on matching a letter with an object. So if the game asked for an object that begins with the letter "a" you could play an "apple" or an "ape" card - if you play the correct card you get to move your avatar around the board. I've yet to think of other game dynamics beyond those - but that's the central idea.