Week five is the time for the team to got into more deep development, and it is also the time to think as a team whether we are moving toward the right track.
Art Progress
Our talented art team has been hard at work!
Regina created concept art for the main lobby and two of our mini-games. We’ve decided to embrace a vibrant and flat design style, which we believe will make the game more visually engaging and accessible for our young audience. The playful use of color helps communicate our messages more effectively, while keeping the experience fun and welcoming.
Lawrence brought characters to life with new animations. These characters are becoming more expressive, and it’s amazing to see them move and interact within the game environment.
Yawen had been working hard on the handwashing tutorial. The tutorial uses visual cues to make sure that the importance of hygiene is communicated effectively.
Art Alignment
Charles had a meeting with the team to talk through our current art directions. As the team finalized our half sheet, posters (thanks Anna!) and logo (thanks Yawen!), and also have a more clear art direction for the game, it is good for the team to review all the design elements together so that we can ensure a more coherent style.
Programming Update
On the programming side, our Mini-game 1 is finalized! The game is polished and ready for the next steps, and we can’t wait to see the reactions from playtesters.
Challenge
However, we ran into a challenge while designing the third mini-game: it is hard to balance fun and education to create a transformational impact in the game.
We want to ensure that the game is enjoyable and engaging, so that kids are motivated to play, but at the same time, we need to deliver key educational messages that lead to positive behavior changes. Finding this balance is challenging because too much focus on fun might dilute the educational content, while an overly educational approach could make the game less appealing.
This is the main reason why the team had a hard time figuring out the final game.
Meeting Insights
In order to solve our struggles, we had a meeting with Dave and Jesse, where we explored some narrative tweaks and brainstormed ideas. They are concerned about current direction of narratives and game design might not be transformational enough for the audience.
- Dave’s Suggestion: For Mini-game 2, Dave suggested adding some worms to evoke a feeling of disgust. This could help convey the importance of hygiene by triggering a “yuck” reaction. However, we’re considering how to integrate this into our existing narrative in a meaningful way without losing the storyline.
- Jesse’s Suggestion: Jesse provided us with a valuable insight into our target audience. Kids aged 10 to 14 start to care a lot about what others think of them, particularly around being seen as “dirty” or “disgusting.” He suggested that we tap into this by using a bit of dark humor to help connect with the kids on an emotional level. It’s a great reminder that empathy—understanding what kids might feel embarrassed or worried about—can be a powerful tool in our design.
Looking Ahead
We’re continuing to iterate on these ideas and push forward. The journey of building is a constant mix of creativity, empathy, and technical work. Despite the challenge we currently ran into, the team will work hard to move toward the end goal.