Crush Station
A game about helping sea creatures hide from a scary octopus teaches students to practice working memory.
Aim of the game
Players have to remember the color and type of creature as it disappears behind an air bubble in order to free it and keep it out of reach of the octopus.
Game Play
Bubbles begin to fill form left to right. We used audio and emotional cues through body language to enhance player motivation to save them. Whilst the octopus grumbled the creatures quivered, cried, shook or hid away. If players remembered the correct combination of color to shape, they continued to live happily ever after in the seabed. As the seabed filled with animal life, player points increased. The more a player succeeds the skinnier and ‘hangrier’ the octopus becomes
Feedback
Players scores are revealed with an average score. This game relied heavily on testing not only memory but how player motivation can be fueled through emotions. Players that were highly successful would see an angry octopus with few bubbles filled with fearful creatures.
Characters
There were characters in total. Each character came in a variety of variables there were 6 colors and each creature expressed happiness, fear or a general neutral state. This resulted in 81 animations of just the sea creatures. I loved designing these illustrations and working with an animator to bring them to life. Seeing the game in a fully functional format using the various animations and states was extremely rewarding.
User Feedback
Teachers brought their classes to the lab regularly to play test for us. Students would create profile’s on the Lab’s testing platform which we’d use to collect data and feedback.