what is a gamebook – choose a genre – what is that genre about – create a world for your story – create a main character for your adventure
Trying out a gamebook
Everyone tried a classic gamebook from the 80s which has been released for the iPad. The image from the iPad was projected on the wall. One person controlled the iPad and everyone else read the content and discussed what decisions to take.
They thought it was fun, and were excited that they would be creating their own such game. But all felt that there was far too much text. They wanted their game (and they decided they preferred to call it a game rather than an interactive ebook or gamebook) to have more visual content and much bigger ratio of interaction to text content.
What is sci-fi? What sci-fi elements do we want?
In their introductory sessions, everyone had picked the genres of sci-fi and horror, with a little bit of comedy as well. Everyone agreed their game will be sci-fi, but with elements of horror, like spooky places and scary creatures. They’ll also be able to put in funny moments.
Ben said sci-fi is a good genre because it’s popular. For the same reason they decided to make their game PG rated. Not only will that mean it can have a bigger audience, it also means they’ll be able to share it with the younger members of their family.
To get a handle on what sci-fi is, and also generate some content ideas for their game, everyone wrote on post-it notes:
– what are their favourite sci-fi works?
– what makes them sci-fi?
– what kind of things do they contain?
They then put their post-its up on the wall.
Discussion, Rationalisation and Organisation of Ideas
We then talked about what they had produced, the common threads and themes that had arisen. They put many post-its to one side and arranged the rest to represent the key elements they wanted for their game.
The Final Board
Designing The World
One group worked on developing the world that their game would take place in.
The World
The Main Character
The other groups worked on designing the main character for the game – her look and her personality.
The Concept is Ready
To wrap up, everyone came together and agreed all the elements that they would use in their game.
They’d worked hard, and stretched the limits of their creativity, but they all agreed it had been great fun and really inspiring, and they were all raring to get on with making the game!
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App Launch Event
pye cutout – lighting – venue decoration – game themed cakes – excited young people – proud parents – delighted funders – press
Dialogue and Soundscape
record dialogue – add post-production effects – create soundscapes for scenes
Story and Game Development
brainstorm ideas – talk them through – shape ideas – share with other groups – review – structure and flowchart – script
Design The City
discuss commonweal’s ideas for the city – research – print – cut and paste – mood board
Pye’s Secret Workshop
mindmap ideas for pye’s workshop – design and draw the background – design and draw items for hidden object game
Choosing a Voice
learn about using tenses and voices in creative writing – evaluate and discuss – choose a voice for our game
