Laser Lunacy! A Collaborative and Co-located Multiplayer Game - Developing a Tool for Children to Practice Collaboration
Typ
Examensarbete på kandidatnivå
Program
Publicerad
2020
Författare
AGNEMYR, JOAKIM
GARRIDO JAQUE, ALEXANDRA
MÅNSSON, CARL
OLSSON, ANTON
PALMBERG, PAULINA
SIDDIQUI, SPONDON
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
The development and spread of digital platforms have led to many new phenomena.
Many of them positive, but many of them also negative. One such negative phenomenon
is the increasing amount of time that children spend on platforms such as
computers, tablets, and smartphones. Such isolation from social interactions with
others can lead to underdeveloped social skills such as communicative and collaborative
skills. It is for this reason that collaborative games have become a point of
interest as they may be used as a tool for children to develop their social skills in
an environment familiar and appealing to them.
In this report, a detailed development process is presented of a co-located collaborative
game for children which can be used in learning environments. The purpose
of the project is to develop a tool in the form of a four-player game spanning over
four tablets which allows children to practice and develop their collaborative skills.
The game was developed through an iterative user-centred design process and based
on previous studies about collaborative games and game design for children. The
target demographic of the project consisted of children in ages of 10 through 12
years old and were involved in the design process through game testing. The project
resulted in a temple-themed puzzle game in which each participating tablet made
up a section of the game map. To complete the game the players had to use oneway
directional blocks to redirect a laser from start to finish. The game idea was
appreciated by the test players, however, an extensive number of bugs in the game
prevented the players from fully enjoying the game experience. The game could
potentially be a suitable tool for developing children’s collaborative skills, but to
reach this conclusion more extensive and long-term research would be required.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Collaboration , Collaborative games for children , Cooperative learning , Gameplay design patterns , Social and emotional learning , Gameplay design for children , Co-located games