Tyto Online is a new "Serious Game" developed by Immersed Games, a startup based in
Gainesville, Florida, that is looking to change the industry of educational
games with the release of a MMORPG.
Tyto Online is a social learning game, where students level up their character by
completing quests. Lindsey Tropf, Immersed Games CEO, founded the company on
the premise that all the learning content should be provided in one cohesive context,
crafting a story and environment for relevant social learning experiences.
The company
long-term goal is to develop a platform for learning opportunities, with students
in 3rd through 12th grade able to complete quests in many different areas such
as science, math, entrepreneurship, technology, arts, history and financial
literacy.
Last week,
Immersed Games launched their Kickstarter
campaign to raise $50,000 to fund the creation of their first module for
middle school ecology.
Game Context and Play
The Tyto
Foundation was established in 2214 with the goal of partnering teachers,
scientists, great thinkers, and volunteers internationally to make progress in
the fields of science, medicine, engineering, and technology to prevent the
decline of Earth. For decades, humanity advanced technologically at a
desperately great speed, inventing faster-than-light space travel,
cryotechnology, and life-supporting Biodomes.
In 2288,
the Foundation made its proudest accomplishment, and created the very first
extra-planetary base on the planet Ovo. The new city, originally intended to be
a research base, was called Espeth. Its first citizens were all members of the
Foundation who were interested in developing technologies that could be used to
create new, sustainable colonies for humankind.
Despite these
great innovations, Earth’s decline was not abated. A mass evacuation was
ordered in all countries of the world, and humans began leaving the only home
they had ever known. Evacuation has been taking place since 2328; billions of
people have already been evacuated in large ships called Pathfinders, which
hold tens of thousands of people in a cryogenically preserved state for the
voyage.
The players
awaken from cryosleep as they arrive to this new world after having been
recruited into Tyto Academy, which only accepts students with the utmost
potential. As new Tytonians, they must learn everything they can, explore the
new worlds, and research Earth’s past in a mission to one day restore Earth.
First Module
For the
first release, the developers are working with the basic set of underlying
mechanisms (networking, leveling system, custom character, etc.), the starting
city, and a module of ecology linked to middle school science standards. The
following are features of the ecology module:
Sustaining Biodomes
Students will learn ecosystem
differences, change environmental variables, and complete quests within these Biodomes that will lead to learning ecological concepts. For example, reports
say plants in the Rainforest Biodome are turning brown and shriveling so they
are asked to solve the problem.
The Biodex
The Biodex
is how students will document the flora and fauna they discover in the Biodomes. Think of it as a personally generated Wikipedia. When they come
across something new, they will tag it and a new entry will populate in the
Biodex. This will encourage exploration and allow them to generate knowledge
about cross-over species and their environmental needs. Animals in their Biodex
will also be available for generating a custom Biodome.
Create-Your-Own Biodome
The capstone experience of this module is the Create-Your-Own Biodome,
where students will apply their knowledge of ecosystems to create their own
functioning Biodome.
Stretch Goals
In the game,
players will be solving puzzles, decrypting history, meeting interesting
characters, exploring alien landscapes, tracking discoveries with their Biodex,
leveling skills, learning real-life information after game missions and
assembling groups of friends to complete quests.
If the stretch
goals are met, Tyto Online will promote interaction between parents,
teachers and students through different account settings where progress can be
monitored. Educators will be able to tailor the game to the class objectives by
assigning quests and managing their classes.
These
developing features are also intended for parents who might be homeschooling.
Along with these inclusions, anybody who has an interest in the game can play,
explore and make their own discoveries online in this futuristic universe.
About Immersed Games
Founded by Lindsey
Tropf in the summer of 2012, Immersed Games is an independent game development
studio based in Gainesville, FL, with the mission of harnessing the power of
video games for learning.
Lindsey
Tropf, CEO, is a doctoral candidate in School Psychology at the University of
Florida, with a specialization in Program Evaluation and a minor in Research
& Evaluation methodology.
Immersed
Games has received recognition from organizations like GAAM (Games, Art and
Music), The International Society for Technology in Education, the Dell
Education Challenge and One Spark for its vision and passion.