A Critical Review of Start the Talk 

Start the Talk is a web game developed by Kognito. Kognito is a team whose core approach is based on research in neuroscience, social cognition and game mechanics. Users move through realistic scenarios at an individual pace. They practice and role-play real life situations by talking with virtual humans, building their skills in motivational interviewing and other evidence-based communication techniques.

Screenshot of Start the Talk

In Start the Talk you get to choose which parent avatar you wan to be and which kid avatar you want to hold the conversation with. After you chose your avatars the game begins the conversation and gives you option and actions to engage with.

LEARNING ELEMENTS
The objective of this game to promote the importance of underage drinking. It is trying to teach an approach to educate and build trust with your kids about this subject. Knowing how to communicate with a kid can be tough and that is the objective of the game, it shows us that saying the wrong thing can alter the conversation. The dominant form of interaction the player has with the game is that the player is the main avatar as they play the parent role of the game. This supports the learning objective because we are trying to communicate and grow a bond with the kids. The social process is the most affected by the game design because it is opening the door of communication between an adult and a kid. This is the main goal of the game as it shows us how to try to get a point across and how saying the wrong thing can bring consequences.

FORMAL ELEMENTS
There are two avatars present in the game at a time, the parent which I got to play as and the kid. The players in this game can interact both competitively and cooperatively with each other as their actions dictate which way they can go. The player in the game interact cooperatively because its objective is to achieve all the goals of the game. The objective of the game is to develop the conversational strategies and the confidence necessary to approach, educate and build trust with kids about drinking.The objective of the game is to earn different reward badges through the things you tell the kid. There are badges such as knowledge and care. There aren’t a lot of rules to the game. You are holding a conversation between the avatars and you have to get your point across about the importance of underage drinking. They complement the game because they help you make your point. The game prevents the player from behaving a certain way by giving it options to respond and actions to take during every move. It is fun because you are restricted to give certain responses and actions. It makes it harder to achieve the objective which is a great motivator. The game ends when you have most of your badges accomplished which means you have discussed underage drinking to some extent with your kid.

DRAMATIC ELEMENTS
The main character is the avatar you chose to be. The motivation comes from earning badges through the actions you take. The relationship between the avatars is parent and kid. The challenges presented are how to talk about underage drinking and most importantly how to bring it up with your child. There are a lot of communication skills that have to be mastered and learned.
The game takes place in the kitchen of the house. The premise is learning how to speak about difficult topics with your children, in this case underage drinking and its effects. The story is linear as one action leads to the next and each action affects the other. The players communicate with one another based on the action that I as the parent did. The game is playful because it gives you different actions to chose from to speak with the child. Constructive play is mostly present as you have to build trust and communication with your kid. Achievers would mostly enjoy this game because they would try to achieve all the badges of the game. The tensions and resolutions are controlled with the actions that are given to us after the tension is presented. The story shows us conflict can happen when you try to communicate with your children and that every action we take can lead into the wrong conversation.

SYSTEM DYNAMICS
The badges being awarded are objected being used to build the game.
There are not many object properties being required for the game systems.
The objective behaviors are that you have to chose from different things to say every time. The relationships are very interactive because it is a one on one conversation between parent and kid. The controls are the options to say to the kid. New systems that emerge from game play are derived from the options of conversation that you. These are procedural driven as they are generated from the previous action you took, The system exposes the responses that the parent can make but they never expose what the kid is going to do or say. This is what makes the game entertaining because you do not know how the kid will react to what you say and it also makes it more realistic.

FUNCTIONALITY, COMPLETENESS, & BALANCE
The game is fully functional because all of the elements are in place.
The game is complete because the objective can be reached even when obstacles are present. This game is balanced as it has all the elements to get the underage drinking problem across to the kid. A dominant strategy is that they repeat actions and dialogue to cue that you have to get that point out in the conversation. The game is symmetrical

FUN AND ACCESSIBILITY
The game is engaging as it keeps you alert and attentive with the dialogue you are having with your kid. The elements present like the distractions and prior knowledge to the topic of underage drinking presented through the video given before the game. The choices that are meaningful are the one’s that do not attack the kid and put them in an uncomfortable position.They relate to the game as they help you get the point across about speaking about the actions and consequences of underage drinking. There are no parts that are broken because the game makes it easy for you to approach all of these interactions between parents and kid. The game in my perspective was not boring, it was quite nerve racking because there were parts when I did not know how my kid was going to react. There are arbitrary windfalls that lead to the kid wanting to leave to the movies already because they don’t want to talk anymore but you can always say something to earn more time with them and a badge. The game is fairly easy to play and not boring easy. It takes anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to play and learn this game. The players learn to play as they proceed in the game because each action and dialogue drives where they conversation will go.

Kognito. ABOUT. Games for play. Retrieved from http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/start-the-talk-underage-drinking/

Playing Fenix Box was definitely a challenge expected because at first the levels are easy which draws you in then out of no where it starts to become difficult and strategic.  You start to anticipate it at first but then you need some time to fully see your method through by applying trial and error.  It may take some time but every thing takes time and you won’t regret it because passing a difficult level in this is accomplishing a mission impossible.  There are 90 levels of fun for this game.  The only advice you are given is to not hit any red box or else you start from the beginning at some levels it is inevitable to not hit any because there are so many and at some point you will hit at least one.  I believe the developers should make a sequel to this amazing game because it is very challenging cognitively and physiologically as well because you become anxious just to see what the next level has to ready for you.

Have you ever wonder, how you can make learning fun?. That’s Your Right is a fun and engaging interactive game. It teaches students the first ten amendments of the American Constitution. The game is a single/multiplayer digital card game. The player are dealt a hand of cards, each card describes a different scenario that can be positive or negative against the Amendment, Your goal is to correctly applied the amendment tokens on the scenario cards to win points or to take points away from your opponent. This game is completely free with a platform that is found online.  Overall That’s Your Right may be very helpful for students in Middle and High School. Teachers may also implement this game in their curriculum to make learning fun and engaging. The message you will receive by this game is knowing that your Bill of Right is important in your life today.

There has been many times where we have been put in a sticky situation. We are then left clueless on what to do next. We usually ask ourselves, should I or should I not? We have no one to ask, we just have ourselves to rely on. This is where our good decision making skills take place. The game titled “Digital Compass” does exactly that. This game test how good we are at making the right decision. This game was originally created for children of the ages six to nine. This game introduces the player to real-life situations. It shows the player what happens when you make both good and bad decisions. Good decisions lead to good outcomes while bad decisions lead to bad ones. The player had eight characters to choose from. Each character has a different storyline. After you finish the story line, you then have the option to complete a game that resembles a game board. At this point of the game you are given points for making good decisions and you lose points for making bad ones. This game takes place in a digital world called “Anywhere”. As we know, todays world revolves around social media. This game teaches the player what to do and what not to do while on social media. It also teaches the player how to interact with others and how to deal with bullies. I love how the game keeps the player entertained. The game is very realistic. It shows real life scenarios without jeopardizing the players reputation. Instead, it gives a real feel of what can happen if you choose to make the wrong decision.

This weeks game that I played was called fibber. I thought that it was a very good game that can teach voters about politics. The objective of the game was to tell weather each statement was truth or was it false. But their is a catch to it  every time you get a question wrong you have to undress one piece of clothing. Once you are fully undressed then you lose the game and it gives your results. The two main characters in the game are Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. These two names sound familiar because their were running for presidency back in 2012. I found the game to be encouraging because this year I’m going to be able to vote for the president since I’m legal. I don’t want to vote for a president that most of he’s comments are all lies. The first time i played it i only got 1 question right. But as I played it more i got much better.  This game also takes a lot of knowledge to play, because they ask you very tuff questions which made the game a little boring. But at the end of the day i enjoyed playing the game and i would recommend it.

Hello Viewers, Guess what? Yess I recently played a new game called Spent. The game Spent centers on entering the life of a Person in poverty. The game is trying to teach how to effectively budget your money for the month.In the game Spent the dominant form of interaction that is used is movement, you are clicking on different choices that vary. This doesn’t take away or benefit the learning objective. Spent involves physiological and cognitive behaviors. You are given various options to choose from which shows how u think about a situation or how u would react in given situation. There is only One player involved in the game, there is no competition or cooperativeness. There is only brainstorming. The objective of the game is to effectively budget yourself for a month, while facing various situations that may come unexpectedly. The rules of the game are too make it through the month with a starting 1000 dollars. If you get to zero dollars the inevitable happens. When you are low on money different choices come up where you can borrow money. The challenges in the game Spent are being limited to the amount of money attainable and successfully allocating funds to different needs. The skills learned are how to budget and make a little last a while. You are limited to certain things you can do because you may not have the funds for it. I ended the game surviving with only 244 dollars at the end of the month. The game is fairly engaging, you don’t know what situation the game is going to throw at you. Every choice in the game is meaningful; it can decide whether you eat that night or decide to pay the gas bill.

This week I played a game designed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. The name of the game was called “Talk. They Hear You”. This game was designed to help parents practice effective conversational skills for serious Talks. In this game the talk was focused on alcohol intake. I played a mom who was trying to talk to her daughter about underage drinking. This game is a emergent game that achievers and socialize-rs can play because it talks about social drinking and undergoing peer pressure. This game consisted of a series of steps known as achievements. There as a total of 10 achievements that had to be reached, and there was tips and the bottom of the screen displayed an icon of two different people , a father and his daughter who was introduced in the beginning of the game. Their purpose was to help serve as a guide if you weren’t meeting the achievements or picked the wrong phrase choice which didn’t really  discourage drinking. Overall the game was simple to play, with easy functional mechanics such as tapping the characters head and choosing a topic and possible corresponding statement choices in that section. I didn’t find it too interesting, but compared to the game I played last week, “Long Story”, this game was more interesting because of the tips and the fun facts. I like how at the end of the game the child gave her own synopsis of what she retained from the talk and i think that this game is beneficial and informative. It focuses on the main objective, showing players where they possibly went wrong and tips on how to change their approach.

Code Fred: Survival Mode is a good example of how repetition can make a fun and interesting game boring. In this game the player takes on the role of different mechanisms within Fred’s body and has the job of essentially keeping him together while he tries to survive in the wild. For me this game had a very great start. It begins with Fred running along a 2D wilderness landscape being chased by a wolf. It then explains—in a very simple fashion—how adrenaline pumps through the body when one’s life is in danger. Then the player’s first task begins with the games primary mechanic, the player has to click highlighted areas of the screen in order. Once they click the eyes, the brain, and then the liver the first task is complete and a description of what just happened within Fred’s body is given. This process is repeated throughout the game, Fred gets in danger, player saves Fred, and then Fred continues to run. The learning objective of the game is clear and ties well into how the game is played without feeling forced. The only issue I have with this game is the repetitive nature of the game mechanic. Pointing and clicking is all the player can do at every single challenge. The challenges change and introduce new fun aspects of the internal environment of the body but the person that designed the game dropped the ball with the creativity of how the player is allowed to interact with the world. It is clear that this game is meant to appeal to a specific kind of player, the explorer—as it would be referred to in Bartle’s Taxonomy—but even these players would quickly become bored as it only takes the first 3-5 tasks before one sees how repetitive this game is and loses interest. Overall it was a very enlightening game but it limited the player’s ability to interact with the environment with seemingly no good reason to do so.

Free Rice was a very easy game yet very educational. It consisted of a lottery of words that each had four similar answers but one of those answers is the synonym of the original word. Now in order to move on to the next word, the player has to match that original word with its synonym. The objective of this game was to win as many grains of rice  in order to feed those fighting hunger. World Food Programme  has partnered up with John Breen, the author of this game, in order to help feed those worldwide. The more words you answer correctly the more challenging the words become as the player advances to the next level. This innovative game not only helps players expand their vocabulary but also helps them have a better grasp of what those words mean. However, In my opinion as the words got challenging, it would of been a great idea to have some hint or tip to have an idea of what the word could mean. Overall, I enjoyed playing Free Rice because it not only had great intentions in feeding those fighting hunger but also helped challenge my knowledge and understanding of new vocabulary.

Zombie run was an excellent experience for me ! The game mainly consisted of the idea on health and fitness. At first, it was a bit confusing to imagine how a game can involved both of these variables to prompt fitness. But to my surprise it did. The game allowed me to work on cardio ( running/walking) while still being able to to the enjoy the overall objectives of the game. Unlike any other game, Zombie run was played through a head piece. The theme of the game gave you the impression of a zombie apocalypse. A narrator will then describe your objective as you start walking or running. As you advance to each objective along the way, items such as rope, food, and weapons are collected through the game. However, it might sound crazy to think how a game knows if your even running or not. Therefore, before starting the game a small window will open up asking you for permission to activate your GPS. This will allow the game to know where your approaching and how much you have advance from your starting point. At the end of the game, you reach your safety zone and enter a civilization full of survivors just like you. This game also helps prompt listening skills and attention to detail. Although some downfalls such as pausing the game from where you left off, can’t be resumed at the same checkpoint it was left at. thus, Zombie run was a new and inexpensive way to workout. It build an adrenaline rush to imagine zombies chasing after you. For anyone interested in this game, I do recommend and give two thumbs up.