Game Design Workshop
16/10/2020
Several gamified exercises will be produced during the Migael project, and the implementation of the fourth has started in the autumn of 2020. The design phase for the next mining game starts already during the production of the previous game, so that the mechanical production of the game can be started at an early stage.
The subject of the fourth game exercise will be pre-blast and post-blast safety measures. The subject area forms a huge entity of things to learn, which is why structuring ideas to achieve a holistic game idea is an integral part of the production process. For this reason, we held a game design workshop with the Migael project team on the premises of the FrostBit software laboratory.
The workshop had already been planned well before the implementation of the game exercise, but due to the extensive topic, the planning of some of the game elements required joint brainstorming in a workshop-spirit. We had received in advance from the mining lecturer Kari Vaara (REDU) the necessary information and materials on the safety measures that should be taken into account in the mining area before and after the blasting; based on these, we were able to list the concrete objects that need to be implemented in the game.
Due to the versatility of the topic and partly the fragmentation of the required elements, for the fourth exercise we chose as the implementation method a Desktop PC-game, which means a game played on a computer, mouse and keyboard. The previous exercises have been implemented using virtual reality (VR) technologies, but in the fourth game exercise, the more classic PC-game offers more opportunities to establish the necessary game elements for the topic: this game goes beyond just observing things, and the player gets to play in a storytelling-enriched game environment.
This game exercise is also known as a serious game, which means a game which main purpose is not so much entertainment, but to usually learn something. In the October workshop, game elements were designed for the objects / objects which needed to be included; this consists of both correct and incorrect measures. In planning and designing, it is therefore important to think that the things to be taught in the game should be learned while playing. The implementation of educational game elements should be interesting, educational, but also fun and inspiring: for this, the serious game should have a reward system that keeps the player motivated to keep playing, but at the same time able to follow the player’s own progress in the game.
The fourth exercise “pre- and post-blast safety measures” will thus be implemented as an inspiring mining serious game to be released in 2021. Follow the progress of the project and the process of the rest of the game scenarios on the migael.fi website!