Laser Light Challenge
Overview
We created Laser Light Challenge, an educational game for kids, which won the Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces 2009 conference competition. The object of the game is to get the laser light to hit the target by manipulating it with the objects available for that level. The game helps to teach kids about the properties of light and how it interacts with different types of materials, such as mirrors, glass, and prisms.
Details
Game Design
We began brainstorming a game idea by looking at the school curriculum for Canadian students. We chose Science as a subject, because it's our favourite, and we chose to look at grade 5 (the upper bound age restriction set by the contest rules), since we thought that a game for older kids would be most the challenging and interesting both in terms of what we could produce and the level of difficulty for us to build it. Looking into the grade 5 Science curriculum, we discovered that in some provinces grade 5 Science students start learning about the properties of light, such as its speed and how it reflects or refracts after hitting different types of objects. We then began brainstorming on game ideas and came up with the basis for Laser Light Challenge.
Collaborators
This was a team project where I worked with Brad Swerdfeger and Anthony Tang. I was the team lead. I designed the game with Brad's guidance, we all contributed to development, and I presented the game at the conference.