Shape Lab

Today, we've been testing and evaluating Keystage 1 games, it wasn't my choice by the way, playing Keystage 1 games is not something I do on a regular basis; just to clear that up. Today was...

KS1 Bitesize Games - Shape Lab

Fist things first is the 'game interaction';
The interaction of the game is very basic, and although you would expect a low level of interactivity for games aimed at this target market, it is perhaps too low to make the game as effective as it should be. Below you can see why this is the case; the "game" consists of choosing the correct shape (out of a selection of three) which fits the description that 'Pablo' provides.

The problem within the interaction of the game, is the feedback that it gives (or doesn't give as the case may be). There is no skill to the game (although perhaps not needed); you either know the answer, or you don't, and if you don't know the answer, you run into more problems as it does not tell you why the answer you have chosen is wrong, or how to come across the right answer. The game aims for the users to learn by trial and error, and although this is often a great way of getting people to learn things, it is perhaps not the best method to use in this scenario. However they have used this method and to make it even worse they seem to have missed out the vital part of trial and error which makes it effective, which is feedback to learn from.

Oops Indeed! Are you sure? You Don't seem that certain!

 And subsequently, if you do get the answer wrong, there is no 'wrong' state, or representation of lives; it simply asks you to make the same choice again - So really you can't loose, even if it does take 3 tries; not quite learning. Perhaps 'political correctness went mad' and it is too detrimental to a key-stage 1 learner's self-esteem to get told they've done something wrong?

This also covers part of the game which is 'Struggle'
Yes, the game provides a struggle for the user if they do not know the answer to the question, but apart from that there is no challenge to the so-called 'game'; there is no consequence if they get the answer wrong - they just try again until they get it right.

'Goals'
The game has a long term goal, (creating the robot for 'Pablo') and short term objectives (find the right shape)

The Goal; To see Pablo's dodgy invention (On the left, What is it?)

Unfortunately the main goal isn't 'properly' described - It doesn't say "your goal is this, succeed and you will get this". In fact, you are left to assume that because they've called it a 'game' and not a 'quiz', that there is somehow some form of reward for succeeding at the end of the game. I assume that it is just this, the teacher staring at you, and your KS1 friends playing the same game that makes you 'want' to complete it. What could be changed though? In my oppinion you wouldn't have to do much to make the game a little more rewarding;

• Show your invention reward a little larger - So you can actually see your handiwork a little better.
• Make your award interactive - What's the point in inventing something if you can't use or play with it afterwards?
• Design the game so that the shapes you choose for Pablo actually resemble some parts of the invention- "I did that!"
• Time limit, health, lives, score and much more are all lacking in this game

'Structure'
To be honest, there doesn't seem to be much structure to the game; for me, it resembles a series of slide-show slides, with three buttons on each, and only one of the buttons works (does that make sense to anyone else but me?). I have no problem with the idea of picking one of three items, only if the other items have some form of effect on the game (I dunno; wrong pieces gives you a mutant-robot instead of a working one) simply put; it is very linear and one-dimensional. I suppose it can get marks for the difficulty selection though!

'Endogenous Meaning'
There is very little endogenous meaning to the game; this may be because the structure of the game is very basic too. It's not as if the game requires the user to engage into the world of Pablo and his friends and therefore this creates very little endogenous... anything - You're not 'in' this other world; you're just an outsider helping them - It's a bit like watching somebody through a glass window of a shop. The lack of scoring means that you can neither go and brag to your friends "I got 5 out of 5" either, because the outcome of the game is you either get 5 out of 5 (by either trying or cheating), or nothing at all - It doesn't really mean anything, whereas "I got 1,592 points" might give you something worthwhile to brag about.

Evaluation
Generally, the 'gameplay' of the game is very poor; yes, It's very pretty to look at (although, probably involves some quite disturbing characters for small children) but the game itself is very basic, if not non-existent. Yes, the game can't be too complicated for users of that age; But I think they may have taken it a little too far. To me, it seems that instead of thinking up a good games concept, the BBC used their budget to Jazz-up and prettify an on-line, multiple choice, interactive quiz...

But that's just me...