Hand of the king game
Balsamic software, sketches
N/A
he Client: Bud to Blossom is a app that allows children to "check in" with their emotions in order to foster stronger emotional development skills. This project was tasked with designing an app for parents so they could better participate in their child's learning.
The Problem: Parents and students are more and more glued to their electronic devices. This makes is harder and harder for parents to know how their children are doing in school. Minimizing the amount of time students and parents spend on devices is going against the current.
The process
With interviews of parents and students it became clear that parents held different opinions on how much an app should help them understand their children. Interviews also showed just how much time parents and children spent on devices and the popularity of video games. With this information I began to think of things parents and children could do together online.
Playing a video game together seemed like a worthwhile activity. The popularity of games with this age group gives students a familiar format to work with. The game is based on roll playing lesson plans developed for emotional learning. Combining roll playing lessons and a roll playing seemed the obvious path. The theme of this game came from the Game of Thrones show which is popular with adults. The idea is that you and your child build a castle for the new King and defend it against his evil stepfather.
Above: Onboarding for the game allows students to pick their character and measure their progress. Parents are given the option being able to control how much atom any children have with in the game.
Below Left: Minecraft is a popular game with children. The format was used as a model to give children a sense of familiarity.
Below Right: Roll playing lesson plan used for elementary school children. Combining these elements was the goal of the game/app.
The Solution: Rather than try to limit the use of technology to encourage activities done with parents and students I embraced it. While most actives online are solitary activities this gives parents and children the opportunity do something together. Studies show that the more time engaged with students by parents produces better educational outcomes and behavior. This is just one simple way that a game can teach students valuable emotional lessons while making fun.
The Detail: While on boarding and setup is done in portrait view on the phone actually playing the game is best done in landscape mode. The swords are vertical when setting up and then are designed to move to the horizontal position to signal the game is starting and that the user should turn their phone.
