About once a month, my Fiance and I tend to get into a good discussion regarding video games. During our most recent episode, the conversation centered around violent games - an area which Jenn has a particular distaste for. At the core of our exchange was a march larger question, one that I have been considering a response to for some time. But seeing as its not quite ready (hows that for making you salivate with anticipation!), there is another question from our chat that I feel like pondering today.
Where is my MacGyver educational video game?
If you don't know who MacGyver is, then you make me very sad and I shall say good day to you. But in case you are just repressing the 80s (which I can totally understand - just look at that 80s hair), I suppose a brief refresher can't hurt. MacGyver was a tv action star who had a firm aversion to violence. Fighting evildoers might seem like the wrong line of work for a man of such principals, but he had a knack for knowing all sorts of ridiculous science, that allowed him to get out of jams without sending his foes to push up daises. If you're still feeling foggy, check out this recent Mastercard commercial for a taste. As it were, Mac was a pretty terrible fighter. He was a big pansy if he ever needed to come to blows with someone, and if he happened upon a gun, he would always either toss it or disassemble it for some obscure part that would later be used to his advantage.
But that was the point - he was a thinking man who relied on the power of science (chemistry, biology, engineering, architecture, etc) to use whatever resources he had to stop the bad guys from doing bad things.
The ironic thing is, being the gamer that I am, if someone came up to me and proposed the previous sentence as the basis for an educational game without using the name MacGyver, its entirely possible that I would have laughed at them. Secret Agent Mr. Wizard? Seriously? And yet in context, it seems like an absolutely genius idea. Let us take a walk through the lush rolling fields of its awesomeness:
ZOMG FUN
Unlike most EduGame ideas, its very easy to see how this game could be so much fun, you wouldnt realize you were learning. If done right, it screams "commercial entertainment", which is probably the highest compliment I could give an EduGame.
Non Violent Without Being Lame
DISCLAIMER: That point is NOT meant to suggest that any game without violence is lame.
Its one of the rare ideas that merges violence with non violence. EduGames tend to stay away from violence like it was the black death. The reason why should be fairly obvious.
But actively avoiding the pew pew is a dangerous thing when building a game. The enemies that most games dispatch through violence create compelling obstacles. Imagine you have a simple jumping puzzle with a body of water below you. Now imagine the same jumping puzzle, except guards with guns are shooting at you and there are crocodiles in the water. The stakes are higher, the pressure to respond quickly is increased, and there are suddenly penalties for failure. It changes the entire complexion of the experience, adding a sense of immediacy to it. It also makes you feel more like a hero. Educationally speaking, the problem with such scenarios is that game designers give you guns (or swords, or bombs, or plasma rifles, or light-sabers) to help you offset the violence against you. Kill or be killed. And I've been told that is frowned upon in some educational circles. Go figure.
A MacGyver game is the perfect solution - dangerous foes who can present a diverse, interesting, compelling challenge without the political fallout of a game that encourages violence.
It Forces You to Learn Without Force Feeding You Learning.
My first two points were all about the potential for fun. Thats not a coincidence. You know how I roll. But perhaps the coolest part about a MacGyver game would be the potential for learning without force feeding it to you. You wouldnt necessarily have to go into each level with an encyclopedia worth of knowledge on chemical compounds to succeed. And the game also wouldnt need to spam you with "whats this" text blocks that completely interrupt the flow of the gameplay experience. By allowing the game to do what games do best - let you play - you could whip up something capable of eating through a metal lock through experimentation and trial and error. Of course experimenting could just as easily create something that would explode in your hands. For the less adventurous, some sort of tooltip could also be available, that might give you some more detailed information about a particular object, without making it obvious how it might be used.
But just by playing the game and using the sorts of items you come across, you would be forced learn things about science, nature, engineering and all those other MacGyver subjects.
Reflection
Consider Xbox achievements. Now imagine if they were used almost like a syllabus for your Mac-ventures. Every time you do something thoughtful, an achievement could be unlocked and your action recorded, along with the details of your action. Maybe you use a Mentos in a 2 liter of soda to create a distraction that helps you get by the guards. When you review your achievement, it can explain in greater detail why, and how what you did worked.
I could keep going, but one of my new years resolutions is to avoid blog posts that span into double digit page lengths ;-)
Obviously its not perfect, but I think there are a lot of things to like about a MacGyver EduGame. Not only could it be fun and educational, but it would represent one of the few action/ adventure games on the market where its not about explosives and sniper rifles. And from someone who is into explosives and sniper rifles, the change of pace might be very refreshing.
What I'm envisioning is most certainly a major game studio project. But if you are one of those people who is firmly entrenched in reality, even something a little more reasonable could go a long way towards creating an interesting experience. Take a look at the flash based MacGyver escape game, as an example.
Good idea? Bad idea? Somewhere in between?
Images from Wikipedia.com and icanhascheezburger.com
Where is my MacGyver educational video game?
If you don't know who MacGyver is, then you make me very sad and I shall say good day to you. But in case you are just repressing the 80s (which I can totally understand - just look at that 80s hair), I suppose a brief refresher can't hurt. MacGyver was a tv action star who had a firm aversion to violence. Fighting evildoers might seem like the wrong line of work for a man of such principals, but he had a knack for knowing all sorts of ridiculous science, that allowed him to get out of jams without sending his foes to push up daises. If you're still feeling foggy, check out this recent Mastercard commercial for a taste. As it were, Mac was a pretty terrible fighter. He was a big pansy if he ever needed to come to blows with someone, and if he happened upon a gun, he would always either toss it or disassemble it for some obscure part that would later be used to his advantage. But that was the point - he was a thinking man who relied on the power of science (chemistry, biology, engineering, architecture, etc) to use whatever resources he had to stop the bad guys from doing bad things.
The ironic thing is, being the gamer that I am, if someone came up to me and proposed the previous sentence as the basis for an educational game without using the name MacGyver, its entirely possible that I would have laughed at them. Secret Agent Mr. Wizard? Seriously? And yet in context, it seems like an absolutely genius idea. Let us take a walk through the lush rolling fields of its awesomeness:
ZOMG FUN
Unlike most EduGame ideas, its very easy to see how this game could be so much fun, you wouldnt realize you were learning. If done right, it screams "commercial entertainment", which is probably the highest compliment I could give an EduGame.
Non Violent Without Being Lame
DISCLAIMER: That point is NOT meant to suggest that any game without violence is lame. Its one of the rare ideas that merges violence with non violence. EduGames tend to stay away from violence like it was the black death. The reason why should be fairly obvious.
But actively avoiding the pew pew is a dangerous thing when building a game. The enemies that most games dispatch through violence create compelling obstacles. Imagine you have a simple jumping puzzle with a body of water below you. Now imagine the same jumping puzzle, except guards with guns are shooting at you and there are crocodiles in the water. The stakes are higher, the pressure to respond quickly is increased, and there are suddenly penalties for failure. It changes the entire complexion of the experience, adding a sense of immediacy to it. It also makes you feel more like a hero. Educationally speaking, the problem with such scenarios is that game designers give you guns (or swords, or bombs, or plasma rifles, or light-sabers) to help you offset the violence against you. Kill or be killed. And I've been told that is frowned upon in some educational circles. Go figure.
A MacGyver game is the perfect solution - dangerous foes who can present a diverse, interesting, compelling challenge without the political fallout of a game that encourages violence.
It Forces You to Learn Without Force Feeding You Learning.
My first two points were all about the potential for fun. Thats not a coincidence. You know how I roll. But perhaps the coolest part about a MacGyver game would be the potential for learning without force feeding it to you. You wouldnt necessarily have to go into each level with an encyclopedia worth of knowledge on chemical compounds to succeed. And the game also wouldnt need to spam you with "whats this" text blocks that completely interrupt the flow of the gameplay experience. By allowing the game to do what games do best - let you play - you could whip up something capable of eating through a metal lock through experimentation and trial and error. Of course experimenting could just as easily create something that would explode in your hands. For the less adventurous, some sort of tooltip could also be available, that might give you some more detailed information about a particular object, without making it obvious how it might be used.
But just by playing the game and using the sorts of items you come across, you would be forced learn things about science, nature, engineering and all those other MacGyver subjects.
Reflection
Consider Xbox achievements. Now imagine if they were used almost like a syllabus for your Mac-ventures. Every time you do something thoughtful, an achievement could be unlocked and your action recorded, along with the details of your action. Maybe you use a Mentos in a 2 liter of soda to create a distraction that helps you get by the guards. When you review your achievement, it can explain in greater detail why, and how what you did worked.
I could keep going, but one of my new years resolutions is to avoid blog posts that span into double digit page lengths ;-)
Obviously its not perfect, but I think there are a lot of things to like about a MacGyver EduGame. Not only could it be fun and educational, but it would represent one of the few action/ adventure games on the market where its not about explosives and sniper rifles. And from someone who is into explosives and sniper rifles, the change of pace might be very refreshing.
What I'm envisioning is most certainly a major game studio project. But if you are one of those people who is firmly entrenched in reality, even something a little more reasonable could go a long way towards creating an interesting experience. Take a look at the flash based MacGyver escape game, as an example.
Good idea? Bad idea? Somewhere in between?
Images from Wikipedia.com and icanhascheezburger.com
This is indeed brilliant.
Though I missed the original MacGyver series, the infatuation that Marge Simpson's sisters have with the show led me to check it out on Fancast I'm embarrassed at the quality of what we used to call entertainment, but I can see the draw.I think your game would be so much better than the original. My hope would be that even though an encyclopedic knowledge of chemistry and physics wouldn't be necessary to start enjoying the fun, it would increase your chances of success on higher levels.
Looking for investors yet?