In one of our early introductions to serious games, for this module we were tasked at producing serious game concepts based on a provided brief. Afterwards, we were required to make a prototype of at least one of the concepts. 

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For the brief, we were introduced to a client, Wheatley Group, who were looking to promote and make technology and learning more accessible to specific groups of people. Of the four groups of people provided, we primarily place our concept focus on individuals who have lost their sight as it would be an interesting design task given how accessibility must become a strong focus of the design. Whilst as a team, we produced a range of different experimental concepts, we were curious to see if we could produce a digital game that could be played purely through audio and a touchscreen. Through this research, we were interested in seeing if we could firstly establish game mechanics and an interface that would work with very little focus being placed on sight. Afterwards, we would change the context and presentation of the game to be more fitting.

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For the prototype, I worked on producing a simple bomb defusal mobile game where the player, using headphones, would receive audio through the left or right speaker. Based on the audio instruction provided, the player would have to press a correct top or bottom button on the corresponding side of the screen (e.g. left buttons for left audio) The player would be required to press this button correctly and in time to prolong a timer which we presented as a bomb timer to make an intense and exciting experience. As the player progresses, the rate of the instructions would come in faster, making it more difficult to prolong the timer. Eventually, when the timer runs out - as indicated by beeping and an explosion - the game would end and the player's time would be revealed via a simple text-to-speech system. In addition to making the game playable without use of vision, the context of the game was intended to make players feel anxious and excited with regards to the game and technology. Afterwards, we would hope that the player would become more confident through exposure to this event.

 

At the end of the coursework, we presented our concepts and prototype to the client in person. Our slides cover the digital and board game concepts, alongside our approach to both. These slides can be viewed as a .pdf here: click here