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atelier de conception de jeu vidéo

Impact video game design workshop with Gamabilis

atelier de conception de jeu vidéo

Fun workshops and cocktail party: To mark the launch of the research program, Gamabilis organized a workshop on video game design.

On Wednesday April 17, the Pépinière 27 premises hosted our 3-hour fun event for some 40 gamers. It was an opportunity to discuss our games over a drink, but also to assess the impact of video games on the general public. Accompanied by our R&D manager Hélène Birlouez, a video game researcher, our Game Designers developed and led several workshops for gamers.

Test workshops: Food Malin and Summertime

For over 2 hours, players were able to test two of our latest productions in succession:

  • Food Malin, a food arcade game designed to teach families with children how to eat healthily and intelligently.
  • Summertime, a narrative game to raise awareness of adolescent health and sexuality.

For each game, testers were placed in specific game situations to record their impressions on questionnaires drafted by our researcher. They were also able to talk to our game designers about their experience and find out how the games were designed.

Video game design: creating a narrative game

In parallel with the test workshops, we organized a workshop to design a game for change, a video game with a social impact. Our Game Director Marianne and our game designer Alexis accompanied two groups of around ten players in the creation of a multiple-choice narrative game, along the lines of our Summertime game for change.

Choosing the scenario and narrative game mechanics

The two teams began the workshop by defining the topic of their choice from among 3 themes. The topics chosen and developed were dropping out of school and well-being at work.

  • For well-being at work, the team came up with the following scenario: ” A start-up specializing in beeswax production is getting ready to raise funds in 7 days’ time. Everything must be ready for the occasion. Unfortunately, one obstacle follows another and employee morale suffers.
  • The team, concerned with the issue of school drop-out and driven by a motivated teenager, came up with the following scenario: ” A schoolboy has to survive an intense week of exams, necessary to validate his year. But if he works too hard, he risks cracking! You have to know how to balance relaxation and revision…”

Drawing on the narrative mechanics of Summertime, the participants in this impact video game design then imagined three gauges that would impact the characters’ actions. Gauges of Team Health, Time and Sense of Belonging were thus to be balanced for the player who would embody the start-up boss. The schoolboy’s choices would depend on his academic motivation, self-confidence and personal enjoyment.

Writing the multiple-choice scenario

After defining the subject and the impact gauges, the designers set about drafting the specific problem situations the player would have to face, such as the departure of the chief accountant six days before the fund-raising for the workplace well-being team, and a sports competition on the eve of a maths test for the school drop-out team.

At the end of the 1.5 hours of brainstorming, the teams took stock of their game. The participants pointed out their mistakes, particularly in the choice of gauges and the balancing of choice points. Nevertheless, each team was able to deliver a complete game concept on time, drawing on their personal knowledge of the issues involved. An effective way of making players understand the issues and difficulties involved in game for change.
The success of the workshop has encouraged us to repeat the experience of designing video games for the general public in the near future.

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