Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
8.4.2
Phase 2. Collective Refl ection: Anticipating
the Final Product
The dialogue among team members while planning the game helps to achieve
awareness of the game's elements, anticipating the fi nal product. This activity can
be interpreted from the refl ections of Moran and John-Steiner (
2003
) when they
consider that creative thought starts as an imaginary sense of how things must be,
which is expressed in an ongoing dialectic between the general categories of the
culture and the specifi c materials and emotional experiences which with the indi-
vidual works. These authors mention how Vygotsky (
1986
) emphasizes verbaliza-
tion processes in creative thinking: “
There is a continuing interaction between
generative thought, which is often condensed, fl uctuating, and unstable and com-
municated thought, which is expanded and organized for maximum impact”
(Moran
and John-Steiner
2003
, p. 75).
The results of the refl ections, focusing on the product planning that they would
create, were expressed in a collective text, including the fundamentals of the game.
The text was written in a session dedicated to planning a “business pitch” oriented
to present the game model in which they were interested.
Fragment 5, session 4. Planning the pitch. Designer's text
Session 4. 2013 01 10
Synthesis
The game presents a parent who realizes his family has been infected by a virus passed on by
his zombie mother-in-law.
Each fl oor is a level, and he will fi nd specifi c challenges in every room and will have to face his
infected family.
If he manages to get through all fl oors, he will reach the attic, where he will have to fi ght his
mother-in-law, who will throw croquettes at him. If he beats her, he will win the game. If not, he
must start all over.
Goal
The goal is to beat the mother-in-law, which cannot be done without killing the rest of the
family so as not to be infected by the virus.
Apart from escaping death, he needs to be careful not to come in contact with bacteria in the
house, because if he did, he would be infected and die a slow death unless he fi nds a new life in
one of the bonus boxes.
Some mechanics
Five limited lives and limited time. Bacteria that will be eating you alive if infected unless an
antidote is found in a bonus box. If this is not the case, the game will come to an end.
In this game's description, the narrative dimension and the rules orienting the
player's activity are differentiated from player activity (Juul 2005). Both dimen-
sions are intertwined. Looking at the story, the physical context is observed; it is
defi ned by a multistory house around which the characters wander. They may be
infected with the virus created by the mother-in-law, on the top fl oor. The goal,
