This post was mainly written after I met Peter Harrington at the vs-games conference. I admit that time pass by FASTER than my ability to accomplish the things I want to finalise during my 24hrs of life that I have each day. Nevertheless, I keep on crossing out items on my constant growing TO DO list. Slowly but surely. 🙂
I met Peter because he sat on a strategic spot, according to my opinion, at the social event of vs-games. Later, I was fortunate to share the dinner table with him and have a quality conversation! Peter is the director of SimVenture. He is an entrepreneur himself, with decades of experience. So, I was eagerly hearing all what he was sharing to me, and being honest. I was also asking and talking (part of my nature 🙂 ) . It was an enlightening evening!
The advices I listen often from people with life experience, as Peter or Christian, are full of common sense: focus, build trust, establish discipline. These three characteristics that entrepreneurs should acquire, and imho, could apply equally to individuals in research and academia.
Now I can play SimVenture and publish this post. The simulation is a bit challenging I must say, but so the real life stuff.
To published this post took me longer than expected because I wanted to play the game before posting. At the moment SimVenture is for windows machines. Hence, before to make the necessary arrangements to run the game on a MacBook I decide to update my machine. Ohhhhh! that was a WRONG decision. Apple Inc. is not making my life easier……
playing SimVenture
next I will write about my frustrations generated by Apple Inc.
Sorry I have been so silent in the last weeks. There are good reasons for it. For example: I went to a wedding from a dear friend of mine in Nice, then I recorded a lecture in WWEDU that is in Wels, Austria (I think I post something about it); then visited Gøvik University College in Norway; participated at the CIMUSET; and believe it or not my family and very special people were here, surrounding me for my doctoral defence. Honestly, I had been learning A LOT in the last weeks and enjoying even more! =) So, in brief I have to write much to catch up.
One thing I am very curious about in this game is the experience of using my imagination when I read a book and link it to the imagination of the creators of the game. When, we read a book, as we know, we use our imagination a lot, e.g., creating voices, describing characters, that this imaginative effort help us to immerse in the story. For one reason, it is known that first read the book and later watch the movie. At least in most of the cases, this is the flow to follow.
So, the video advice to play first and later read the book does not convince me 100% yet. Nevertheless, I should understand it is a promotional video 😉
In any case, for sure I want to try the game!!!!! =) and when time comes, meet the developers too 😉
Getting vision for the future: One day, I think I will expand this playing curiosities even more….. getting ready for it!
Yesterday I played Run un den Kalendar. We were 2 adults and one 4 years old. In theory this game helps the children to learn the days of the week, the months and the four seasons. I have my doubts if the game helps the children to learn about the days of the week and the months. However in reference of the four seasons the game is well done, in my opinion.
The game mechanics involve some elements of chance and strategy. For example, depending which number one gets after spinning a wheel, one can move either right or left to the corresponding spot on the board. Then, the player takes the card and describes the picture connect to a season that is in that specific spot. The cards are placed randomly, so one has to pay attention. The game’s aim is to get a card of each season. So, the player has to think carefully which direction to take, to actually collect at cards of the four seasons. 😉
The game also pays special attention to fine motor skills, at least in one “mini-game”. Let me explain. The spinning wheel can indicate the number the player has to move in the board, or if the player has to play a mini-game which allows to get a seasonal card without moving the tile from the board. Ideally this card is from the season the player is missing. The mini-game is about dropping a bar, which has all the seasons, between a player’s fingers. The player has to close her or his hand fast when the bar is passing by. Ideally the player stops the bar in the season s/he needs. It is a fast mini-game within the game, where the children have to learn to practice their coordination skills when dropping the bar and also to close their hands fast.
Run um den Kalendar
Designing games for small children is challenging. It increases the difficulty level when we aim to design games for a family with small children. The constant question is: how can we design a game interesting for the small ones as well as for the adults? mmmm… interesting challenge to solve! And you have to notice that I even didn’t even mention in my question the game’s learning aspect, because that increases the challenge. 🙂
If I have to rate this game, I think I will put it 2 of 3 stars. I confess, I have an enjoyable game experience of describing the seasons with the little one 🙂
After a LONG journey doing research and learning to write research articles, the time to draw a BIG smile arrived. Yes! First journal is out: Designing Hypercontextualized Games: A Case Study with LieksaMyst. Additionally, the article is special for several reasons, to mention two:
LieksaMyst is an exemplar case study showing how an idea turns to be a research project, and later re-transforms itself from a research project to a sustainable product
LieskaMyst makes evident the importance of non-digital objects and the on-site knowledge for the creation of digital games
and the list can continues but more in this publication and in a forthcoming dissertation 😛
I feel very honor and lucky to have the opportunity to work with a wonderful team all these years in order to achieve LieksaMyst. It has been a team work, without any question. In this moment I want to thank and congratulate specially to Mikko, Teemu, Liisa and Marketta for so many hours working together on this project. 🙂 Remember adding hours = days and later months and so on.
The article is also the result of an intense learning curve of doing research and acquiring the skill on academic writing (ask to my official and unofficial supervisors about this 🙂 oh boy! ). Estee has been a outstanding English teacher for me, her quality control of my official writings is a blessing. She has assured that my spanish-english transforms to english-english.
So, this is the first step. We should remember the sky is the limit and there is much to do and share! 🙂
Ahhhhh! but this publication teaches me even at the very final stage something. I was not careful enough and I did not stress on time that my last name is ISLAS SEDANO, and the article was left as Sedano as my last name. *sight*.
I am trying to get it fix, but let’s see if it works, it is not so simple. I should have know this already and be more careful. However, the lesson is very well learn right now. So, for those of us who use two last names: remember to be EXTRA careful while mentioning one’s last name.
When I wrote the workshop proposal, my naïve mind was thinking that I might have an afternoon for it. Once the program showed up, I realized I only had 1.5 hr, which it is not much time in order to run a practical workshop.
The program also let me know that other sessions would talk about games. I am aware that gaming is relatively new in for the JTEL community. So I decided to focus directly on the basics, and still put hands on 😉 So, instead to design a game as a puzzle, as originally was designed, I pushed to have a game using dices. For that, I needed to seek for dices in Joensuu. Oh my! That was an adventure. But at the end of the day I got all the material for my workshop:
Material for the workshop basics on game design @ JTEL 12
It was funny to bring all that non-digital technology tools to an event that focuses on digital technology, but well, one knows it is what one must do 😉
How was the workshop? Well one should ask that question to the participants actually.
Participants of the workshop basics on game design @ JTEL 12
On my side, I did my best and I learned a lot. Now, I am aware that I still I should cut my presentation a bit so that the participants have more time to put hands on. Also, I MUST learn how to close the exercise session or give feedback there is something there I am missing, and for that, of course I need to pay more attention to the experts….
I felt delighted for those who gave positive feedback, thank you! 😉 But overall, I hope the participants got valuable 1.5 hrs of their time while we were together, while gathering information and an experience of the facinating world of games.
Something very interesting happened thanks to the workshop. Dr. Igor Mayer joined the workshop, and I was unaware about who he was. However, at the end of the session he suggested some improvements for the slides, e.g. correct the year of the Huizinga publication, which I had typed wrongly. UPS!!! Now it is correct in the slides, no panic!
As it happens often to me, what I enjoyed more is to listen to others and make questions. Dr. Mayer has been around in the game research world for a time already, however as my attention has been mainly on DiGRA community, I had been a bit careless with the S&G community, so I could not connect right away. After talked to Dr. Mayer, I got eager to re-read several S&G journal articles, which in theory I had read but it seems I did not process them as I should. I really indentify with the vision of Dr. Mayer and I am grateful for the opportunity to talk with him, undoubtedly, he illumined me with his experience, constructive feedback and valuable information.
The fun thing was that at Dr. Mayer’s keynote, he pointed out one of the slides I presented at the workshop (Garner Hype Cycle in slide 26) with a different perspective. That was a rich episode. I felt it as a conversation, so cool!
At the end of the JTEL SS, I understood the purpose of a workshop, which I had no idea earlier. If I understood well, at least one of its functions is to explore ideas. Hmmm… I usually like workshops, but now I know that I will be a workshop fan!
Summarizing:
From my workshop I learn A LOT and I had fun. Thank you JTEL for the opportunity and overall thank you to all the participants of my workshop.
The whole JTELLSS was a great event. We share knowledge and undoubtedly it was built a sense of community. I should be able to do a proper post of the event, but later in time, I am lacking behind in other writing duties. However this post is the first of the series
