Sprite’s Quest - Seedling Saga, developed by CFORP based in Canada, has won bronze honors in the 2016
International Serious Play Awards competition
under the K-12 Geography category.
This is a series of two 2D
platformer games developed to introduce 7th and 8th graders to various concepts
of physical and human geography. The Serious Games have taken 2 years to
complete from concept to pilot product. They are available in French and
English, through Unity web player and as native iOS tablet apps.
In the game, map and graph literacy questions,
factoids, and item collection create moments of explicit learning, while the
gaming component uses a “Preparation for Future Learning” approach. By
recognizing vocabulary, events, and features including graphics, capabilities,
and limitations of a certain level, students gain experience with
geographical features and relationships of a real-world location. The intent is
to then further explore their “first-hand” experience with geographic phenomena
and unpack the important concepts in a literacy component that accompanies the
game.
The game starts when a water sprite is
surprised by a group of seedlings in its home cloud. The sprite decides to
bring the seedlings back to their respective homes on Earth after it learns
that the seedlings accidentally followed the sprite back to its cloud during
its travels.
While kids love Sprite’s Quest because of its classic game mechanics well suited
for their age, they implicitly take in visual information about the landscapes
they are travelling in.
Students are taken to six different geographic
locations re-imagined as 2D game terrain. The gaming component lets players
move the sprite, jump, and use water powers and state change to alter the
terrain and/or move forward in their quest.
Through the highly accurate and spectacular
visuals, students discover the physical geography of countries illustrating
their geography curriculum. The game acts as a “curiosity enhancer”.
The value proposition of utilizing classic game
mechanics to fully engage grade 7 and 8 Geography students is fully met,
blurring the line between gameplay and learning contexts: game elements and
instructional elements are seamlessly integrated and connection transparent to
the player.
According to the developers, teachers
appreciate the resource because it is well suited for 21st century's learning
abilities and therefore helps them into offering dynamic courses. In French
schools, it is most appreciated as it is one of the few educational games available
to complete regular lessons on the subject.