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Learning Through Gaming

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Recently I was asked to engage with two “Big Picture” papers on games and learning, write a short, (6-sentence) summary of each, using the “3-2-1” method,  then write a 2-sentence “bridge” that identifies common ground or linkages, disagreements or differences, between these two sets of ideas. I found this exercise really interesting and a great way to dissect and digest an academic paper, as such, I will be writing a post on this exercise on my speaking site for those who are interested.

The two academic papers I was asked to reflect on were Serious Play by Suzanne De Castell and Jennifer Jenson in the Journal of Curriculum Studies and Video Game Literacy – A Literacy of Expertise by Kurt Squire. Below you can see my process as I dissected and digested these papers.

My 3-2-1 on Serious Play

Descriptive Sentences

  • The primary instrument of our time is digital code, yet schooling is alienating an entire generation from its own language.
  • Educators and educational administrators are predominantly looking at tech to control, surveil, and document, rather than transform curriculum.
  • Commercial game design demonstrates how immersion in play can promote serious learning.

Analytical Sentences

  • The idea of learning through play, while valuable, is not new – we can see many excellent examples of this in alternative schools, individual teachers, and extra curricular programs, as demonstrated in Joseph Cornell’s Sharing the Joy of Nature and Thom Henley’s Rediscovery.
  • What is new here is the form of play in the case of digital games, and the application of technology to learn through the freedom and creativity of play.

Burning Question

  • One sees change and a return to play in small scale examples at alternative schools, with individual teachers, and in extra curricular programs – this is not new – so how do we change this on a broader basis with a system that is designed based on working towards standardization and standardized testing?

My 3-2-1 on Video Game Literacy

Descriptive Sentences

  • Reading competency is at risk.
  • Games present a potential new way of teaching literacy, as they present students with the opportunity to learn, think, and act through game play in a simulated world.
  • Learning through gameplay presents a challenge, in that if this is how gaming generations are learning is their learning style at odds with traditional schooling that works on strict time schedules and with teachers telling students what to do and what they need to know?

Analytical Sentences

  • Curriculum is malleable and a creative instructor can work gaming / experiential media into cross-curricular learning, the battle is changing traditional systems within schools, such as strict schedules, separate subjects, and standardized testing.
  • Rather than pose digital games as quintessential and of greater importance to other forms of digital media or experiential learning, should we not be working together between the silos to change how we teach / learn – looking to examples from old school play / games, outdoor education, experiential media, and digital media (digital games and affinity spaces included).

Burning Question

  • If the education system ignores gaming due to fear, do we run a similar risk as using sex education to recommend abstinence, where by ignoring we do not equip young people with the tools to navigate the more mature elements to games and gaming?

Common Ground

As pointed out in both Serious Play and Video Game Literacy, rather than trivializing games or fearing them, perhaps it is time to both use games as learning tools and as models to study how gamers are learning, and how such principles can be used within our education system and in our classrooms. Such change in education is not easy on a broad scale and require open and creative thinking, as to fully embrace and implement what is ultimately experiential learning, we need to question our framework in traditional schooling of strict schedules, separate subject areas, task oriented teaching, standardization, and preparing students for the test.

I am going to leave the final words on all of this to a teacher that has already embraced game based learning in his classroom, John Spencer …

References

de Castell, S. & Jenson, J. (2003). Serious Play. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35, 6, 649-666.

John Spencer. (2018, July 22). Seven Reasons to Pilot Game-Based Learning with Your Students [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPFJQqsATOk

Squire, K. (2008). Video-Game Literacy – A Literacy of Expertise. Academia. https://www.academia.edu/1317105/Video_Game_Literacy_A_Literacy_of_Expertise

80 Days, the Digital Game – a Case Study

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Recently as a part of my studies in Digital Games, Learning, and Pedagogy (ETEC 565S) for my Master of Educational Technology, I was tasked with analyzing a digital game of my choosing by creating a series of game logs reflecting on my experiences with the game. The game I chose to analyze and create a case study around was 80 Days.

You will find a link to each of the game logs I created in my analysis of this game below.

Game Logs from my Analysis of 80 Days

Game Log 1 : First Impressions Before Gameplay
Game Log 2 : First Playthrough
Game Log 3 : Watching Gameplay

80 Days, the Video Game

To briefly introduce 80 Days, it is a digital game released by Inkle and written by Meg Jayanth, based on the Jules Verne novel Around the World in 80 Days.

Image courtesy of Sailko.

First Impression and Trepidations with 80 Days

When I first picked 80 Days for my digital game analysis, I did so with the hope that it would be a little like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, a favourite digital game from my youth. I wanted a game filled with adventure, mystery, and intrigue. Also, given the current pandemic, I’ve been missing travel, so my hope was that 80 Days would provide me with that and give me the opportunity to learn about the history and culture of different areas around the globe.

I had two trepidations in delving into this game.

  1. The Goal of Attempting to Get Around the World in 80 Days – as I am a slow traveller, who likes to take the time to explore the places I visit, that is what I thought I would wish to do in each city visited in the game. While some travellers are missing the transport of travel in the present pandemic, and modes of transit are certain to be an important aspect to 80 Days, as they were in Jules Verne’s novel, for me it is the place and people that I am missing.
  2. The Presentation / Perception of Women and Different Cultures Around the World – this game was after all based on Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in 80 Days, an adventure undertaken by two European men in 1872 at a time when the British Empire saw themselves as the white saviours and women were portrayed as the weaker gender, who were in need of men to look after them.

I discuss these trepidations in my initial game log and my glimmer of hope that possibly the female writer of the game, Meg Jayanth, who while British, was born in India, had found a way to craft a more worldly perspective on a story of two European gentlemen that was set in 1872, rather than disinterest or as Ian Bogart frames it in How to Do Things with Videogames, a disconnect between violence, sexism, racism, classism, and empathy. I just wasn’t quite sure how she was going to do that and maintain historical accuracy. These are all things I discuss in this video on my first impressions of the game.

First Playthrough of 80 Days

How wrong I was in my initial assumptions! While I did get a game filled with adventure, mystery, and intrigue with 80 Days, I got those things in a very different way from what I was expecting.

You see what 80 Days is an interaction fiction game, like a choose your adventure novel, only with multitudes more choices of directions to take in the game that lead to different plots and narratives. I have to admit that a few weeks ago, I did not understand how a choose your own adventure story could be a game. After playing 80 Days, my perspective on this has changed, as this is most certainly a game (and a story, at the same time). The choices you make at the markets on goods to purchase or sell, routes to take, conversations to have, responses to those conversations, all have an impact on the narrative, plots presented, and upon Fogg’s health within the game. There is strategy in the decisions made, and repercussions to the decisions chosen. And ultimately, the unpredictability of those repercussions and the surprising narratives that ensued are what kept me reading and playing.

In playing, my trepidations disappeared, I discovered I enjoyed the race and was not as prone to dilly dally as I thought I might be. I found that the anticipation of a journey, the sound of a steam whistle, and the chug of an engine all left me with a feeling of anticipation and of nostalgia. By blending the story of Around the World in 80 Days with a reimagined steampunk 1872, it gave writer Meg Jayanth the artistic license to craft a new storyworld with an imagined political climate, new characters, and different gender roles and jobs. While this meant that we interacted with many more women in 80 Days the digital game, then Phileas Fogg and Passepartout did in Jules Verne’s novel, this is not to say that the 80 Days video game avoided real issues around politics, sexism, racism, religious intolerance, classism … etc. Quite the opposite, 80 Days addressed these cleverly throughout the stories of the everyday interactions in travel. I know that I myself, playing the role of Passepartout, have already inadvertently made a woman feel unsafe, and learned that she has in some way been assaulted in the past; have helped a woman captain give birth to her new child, so as not to need to present herself to her crew in a vulnerable state; have been rendered unconscious by a nun, in an attempt to gain my aid in political plots at play; had a bomb explode in my soup, after taking a bit of culinary advice; and been pickpocketed by a little girl in a wheelchair that I thought I was enjoying an innocent exchange with. Needless to say, this is a whole new world from Around the World in 80 Days.

In the debate as Bogart puts it in How to Do Things with Videogames, is this a game or art? It is both a game and art, just as it is both a game and a story.

In discovering this, I decided to try my hand at creating my own playthrough broadcast, which is not as easy as it might seem, and involves both strategic decision making and storytelling. Gametubers is a niche that I have watched curiously for years, as a digital video creator and having been invited into a number of discord gamer communities, as a result of sharing my videos on Vidme. While I understood from conversations in the discords that there was the potential for generating revenue through gameplay videos, I did not find gameplay videos particularly engaging and had no idea the revenues could be as lucrative as T.L. Taylor cites in her book, Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming. This however seemed like a good opportunity to experiment in the niche of gameplay videos, so you can see my first take on such a video below:

Which leads me to …

Watching a bit of 80 Days Gameplay

While being somewhat skeptical of this form of entertainment previously, I have to say, 80 Days and Paragon Plays have converted me. In watching Paragon Plays’ Mutiny Aboard the Waterlily | 80 Days [Interactive Novel Gameplay], you will discover from the video below that I become somewhat of a Gameplay Video Convert. When done well, as is the case of Paragon Plays, this is an art form and a story genre, as pointed out by T.L. Taylor in Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming. Having said that – something that is also touched on in Watch Me Play, there is a lot more work that goes into being a financially successful gametuber / streamer than crafting entertaining videos. Gavin of Paragon Plays created wonderfully entertaining videos, yet he never really gained the audience needed to financially benefit from this story niche, which may be why his channel now lies dormant.

Aside from my admiration for Gavin from Paragon Plays’ narration, strategic storytelling in editing his video from both past gameplay and present additions that include backstory to the game, gameplay tips, and story insights from Jules Verne’s Around the Word in 80 Days, I learned a number of things from watching Gavin play that were not expressively told to me. From watching, I observed the benefit in gameplay and broadcast in making quick decisions, I realized that the gameplay and story snippets were richer with familiarity to Jules Verne’s novel, and I gathered that by making bolder choices, the story got that much richer and more suspenseful. In the words of Passepartout in Around the World in 80 Days …

Fortune favours the bold.

Passpartout

I now understand why people both make and watch gameplay videos – for the personalities and storytelling, as well as for tips in terms of gameplay. These observations have made me want to dabble more in the creation of gameplay videos myself. I think what I’d like to do in this bent is to create a serialized ‘bedtime story’ from chapters of a full game playthrough of 80 Days. Thinking this might be especially fun to do as a team project with my nieces and nephews. For the first game playthrough, I think I’d like to follow the route of travel from Around the World in 80 Days to see if I stumble upon any similar plot lines to that of the novel.

Exploring Societal Discomfort in 80 Days

One other thing that struck me in watching Gavin play and reflecting on my own gameplay, was that the player seemed to be rewarded with a favourable outcome when making decisions that respected female characters in the game and that respected different cultures and religions, although only after a number of ‘tests’ as to the player’s sincerity. Despite this being my observation, writer Meg Jayanth does discuss in a talk at the 2015 Game Developers Conference the importance to her that the storylines in 80 Days not lead to the notion of the ‘white saviour,’ like they might have with the story of Aouda, the widowed princess in Around the World in 80 Days, whom Fogg and Passepartout save from her husband, the Raja’s, funeral pyre. Meg speaks about this from 23:37 to 24:43 in the video below.

For me, the placing of the player into scenes of discomfort and moral dilemma is what not only makes 80 Days a nuanced piece of storytelling, but a provocative examination of society, our believes, and our actions and inactions within it, all whilst enjoying a bit of gameplay in an imagined world. This is where the learning happens within the gameplay for me, as in this way 80 Days evokes empathy in it’s players towards the ‘other’ in the game, much as Bogart reflects on in Chapter 2 of How to Do Things with Videogames. I’ll be curious to observe how these moments of discomfort and moral dilemmas impact my nieces and nephews as we play and read together, and the discussions that ensue as a result.

References

Bogost, I. (2011). How to Do Things with Videogames (1st ed.). University of Minnesota Press.

GDC. (2015, November 5). 80 Days & Unexpected Stories [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apa7Klu8Trg

Jayanth, M. (2015). 80 Days [Interactive Game]. Inkle. https://www.inklestudios.com/80days/

Paragon Plays. (2016, May 23). Mutiny Aboard the Waterlily | 80 Days [Interactive Novel Gameplay] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orOdVFMydjE

Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming

StoryToGo. (2020, August 12). First Impressions of 80 Days [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joSLFXnbkXI

StoryToGo. (2020b, August 21). First Playthrough of 80 Days [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw3WX7_3tV0

StoryToGo. (2020c, August 30). Embarking on 80 Days with Paragon Plays [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUBMl-yWKok

Taylor, T. L. (2018). Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming (Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology). Princeton University Press.

Verne, J. (1873). Around the World in 80 Days. Pierre-Jules Hetzel.

Game Log 3 : 80 Days – Watching Gameplay

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Continuing with my field notes in analyzing the 80 Days video game, as a part of my studies in Digital Games, Learning, and Pedagogy (ETEC 565S), this game log reflects my observations watching another gamer on their playthrough of 80 Days.

Game Log 1 – First Impressions Before Play
Game Log 2 – First Playthrough

Name of Game: 80 Days

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Date Analyzed:

Friday August 28th, 2020

Session 3: Video Observations

Watch an online video of your game, either via live-streaming (Twitch.tv) or conventional video (YouTube). Get a sense of how an expert plays that game: see how they understand and react to the game and how that differs from YOUR playthrough; see what it is like to watch the game not just as a viewer, but as a mass media spectator. Again, organize your account into three kinds of notes.

The gameplay that I watched was Gavin of Paragon Plays‘ Mutiny Aboard the Waterlily | 80 Days [Interactive Novel Gameplay].

a) Descriptive Notes

Document what the player is doing, paying attention to, ignoring, prioritizing, but also what they are talking about (i.e. what they verbally frame as important during the playthrough). Make notes of what the player is paying attention to, prioritizing, and/or ignoring and if and how that is different from your play.

  • Gavin was well read on Jules Verne’s novel, Around the World in 80 Days, and as such had an idea in playing, the sort of character that Passepartout is, and what sort of daring decisions he might make in parts – taking risks. I have to say, this lead to some fun suspense in the gameplay. As Passepartout says as they approached Bombay in Around the World in 80 Days, “Fortune favours the bold.”
  • I also gained some insights into the character of Phileas Fogg and how he might react to Passepartout’s decisions (based on Jules Verne’s writing of his character) from kebzero‘s gameplay, Let’s Play 80 Days – Around the World We Go! – Episode 01. It is important in maintaining character health and good relations with Phileas Fogg to think what an English gentleman might decide in a public interaction.
  • Gavin pointed out the importance of having conversations with passengers and crew members during transport, in order to quickly find travel routes and save time in each location.
  • So as not to waste time and to keep to story flowing, Gavin makes decisions quickly – this is definitely an area that I need to take note and tighten up in my gameplay.
  • Definitely important to keep a deck of cards to play whist, as that’s Phileas Fogg’s game of choice.
  • Somethings are not as they seem, like the ship the Waterlily transforming into a submarine. These hidden details are only shared if you engage others in conversation, and ultimately are only revealed based on the decisions that you choose to make and how your character is perceived.
  • Many other players are terming 80 Days ‘fan fiction’ or ‘further fiction’, which has encouraged me to reread Jules Verne’s novel, Around the World in 80 Days, so that I might enjoy some of the easter eggs and insider jokes in the game to the original novel, like meeting characters from the novel and the jokes around crossing the International Date Line.
  • Apparently you can even travel to the North Pole and shave several days (even weeks) off your journey.
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  • Even if you don’t use certain routes or knowledge in one game, your character retains them for future games.

b) Affective Notes

What affective responses did you observe the streamer having while playing? What evidence did you have of their affective response/s? What did they choose to focus on? How were they different from responses and focus/foci you had? Pay specific attention to instances where you were surprised by something the video streamer said or did. And if possible, reflect on how affective responses impacted the ‘learning’ or ‘engagement’ you think can be recognized and documented from this observed play session.

  • Excitement – over the game, the adventure, and the invitation into a new world of stories started by Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days.
  • Accomplishment – over the route Gavin accomplished in making it around the world in 71 days, on his 3rd attempt at the game – after 2 previously failed attempts of play.
  • Anticipation – over visiting all the cities on the globe that Gavin has not visited yet, and the adventures that might unfold from there with encountering new characters and trade routes.
  • Relishing – in the fun story bites, and some of the choices Gavin made that garnered his character alliances.
  • A Note of Pride – at understanding the insider joke with regards to the dateline.
  • Frustration – at having to stop in Honolulu.
  • Disappointment – over first attempt of mutiny not working.
  • Hope – that there would be another opportunity for mutiny.
  • Amusement – at the graphics for the submarine and reading the voices of different characters.
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  • Pride – at speedy travel by the submarine.
  • Pleasure – at words of praise from Phileas Fogg.
  • Excitement – at the idea of following the route of the book.
Gavin’s Focus

Gavin chose to focus on one small story within his journey, that he enjoyed, to share his gameplay from. I thought this was smart, as it kept his audience’s attention and left us wanting more. This had not been his original goal, which had been to share a full game from start to finish, but was a smart choice of circumstance, when his recording cut off.

In terms of play and choices within the game, Gavin leaned towards risky choses, mixed with humour, and camaraderie. This definitely lead to excitement, and has encouraged me to be a little bolder on my next playthrough.

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I really loved Gavin’s narration and storytelling. This has inspired a desire in me to film routes of travel and city visits in the game in short chunks in sequence to act as a serialized / chaptered bedtime story that I could share chapter by chapter to our StoryToGo YouTube Channel.

c) Analytic Notes

Review your descriptive notes and consider the problems the player encountered and the strategies/solutions that they enacted. Furthermore, consider how the player navigated/commented on issues/structures of race, gender, class, and violence. What did you notice about the game when you watched, as opposed to when you played? Any quick connections to make here to either Bogost or Taylor? Hold off on making any big conclusions for now.

  • Many of Gavin’s choices in the game had him fraternizing with the crew of the ship he was sailing on, which lead to stories in the game about friction between religions, and allowed for Gavin to use those to instigate change within the game, accompanied by a certain amount of expected violence inherent in the ensuing mutiny.
  • As Gavin chose to treat the female characters in the game with respect and as equals, this won him alliances that ultimately helped him in his gameplay. I noticed the same thing in some of the choices I made. I suspect much of this comes from having a strong female writer on the game, and wonder if the female characters in the game would be different, weaker or not in roles of authority if a man had been the writer of the game? That said, in beginning to reread Jules Verne’s novel, he too treated the women they encountered with a great deal of respect. However, sticking with the time, there were not as many women in their travels or in as strong roles. I am also curious how the game plays out differently, if one were not to treat those female characters with respect?
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  • The main strategies I gleaned from Gavin are to be daring, make quick decisions, fraternize with the other characters within the game every chance you get, and familiarize yourself with the story of Around the World in 80 Days.
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  • I am also gathering that it behooves one to make decisions within the game that show respect for other religions and female characters, which I have to say makes me smile.

Fieldnote Summary Session 3

At the end of your fieldnotes for session three, craft one or two sentences (no more) that, for you, summarize your observations of a more skilled player playing this game. Include one image that supports your conclusions.

I had a lot of fun watching Gavin of Paragon Plays’ gameplay of 80 Days. He drew me into the story with his wonderful narration and infectious excitement and sense of anticipation, encouraging me to make some bolder choices when I next play, quickly, and with an eye out for gaining understanding of other characters within the game’s circumstance and if I am able to catalyze positive change in that circumstance, whilst approaching my own task at hand.

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Game Log 2 : 80 Days – First Playthrough

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Continuing with my field notes in analyzing the 80 Days video game, as a part of my studies in Digital Games, Learning, and Pedagogy (ETEC 565S), this game log reflects my initial experiences in my first playthrough.

Game Log 1 – First Impressions Before Play

Name of Game: 80 Days

Date Analyzed:

Tuesday August 11th, 2020

Session 2: Solo Playthrough

Play the game on your own: familiarize yourself with the controls, mechanics and interface; get an initial understanding of the game’s narrative and its aesthetic. Your goal is to “get a feel” for what it is asking from you, in terms of: inputs, emotion, and attention.

Note: If you use outside help at any point, make a note of that. The effort here is not to do anything “correctly”, but to diligently record whatever you do as you try to get a ‘handle’ on the game.

a) Descriptive Notes

Just write as you play — write anything descriptive, records of objectives, hints, fragments of ideas, anything. You may elect to write as you play (i.e. pausing the game) or right after you have completed a play session. Try to get at least 60 minutes of play time.

  • very different game from what I was expecting, but thoroughly enjoyable – got so wrapped up in the story that over an hour and a half flew by before I realized it
  • this is a story that allows for the reader to choices that effect the stories outcome
  • choose your own adventure story / game
  • I’d been questioning how a choose your own adventure was being categorized a game, as oppose to simply an interactive story, but I am seeing it in the game play here. There is definite strategy and choice at play.
  • hint: a notebook way be useful for jotting down information given to you in conversations with other characters – although these do also show up in references to places that they’ve mentioned on the map
  • hint: pack the transit map – hugely helpful
  • hint: if you are given the option to get off a train before reaching a destination – don’t – this is a not a stretch break – the train will continue without you
  • hint: you can sell items at the market by dragging them out of your suitcase
  • hint: be careful of how many bags you are carrying – they can cost you a fair bit extra
  • hint: save money on hotels with overnight train travel
  • this is not the real world of 1872 – rather a steampunk storyworld that has been created around the premise of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days
  • curious if I read Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days if it will add additional layers to the story
  • need to look up what was happening in history in 1872 to see if this is echoed in the elaborate story of war, feuding Guilds, and the imaginative steampunk elements
  • I wish the news articles offered more details than simply the headline
  • being able to snap photographs for postcards is a fun in-game feature
  • the summary of my travels is fun, but I wish that lead to an actual forum where you could interact with other travellers, have a virtual drink in a pub, and share bits and pieces on this new world that we’d all become a part of
  • hint: keep an eye on the clock – especially when buying travel tickets, so you don’t miss departures
  • chuckled at myself, as in this context it turns out I was much better at speedy travel then I thought I’d be

b) Affective Notes

Playing and analyzing games are subjective activities — as you played, you were likely: engaged, irritated, startled, sympathetic, angry, bored, etc. Identify the affective responses you had while playing, and do your best to account for the in-game circumstances that gave rise to them (i.e. where, when, intensity, etc.) Don’t worry about being exhaustive, just mention what you think matters.

  • excitement at the opener – it felt like a movie with the perfect scoring for embarking on an adventure
  • thrill at the notion of some of the steampunk inventions in the game – like the Amphitrite Express, a submersible train
  • engaged by my explorations in the different cities
  • irritation that the suitcases don’t fit more items
  • frustration at missing a train or having to pay extra for baggage
  • curiosity in what the conversations with locals will reveal
  • conflicted as to what to feel in my conversations with locals on the politics, as I am yet to be familiar with it and what is going on
  • frustration that the driver to Budapest would not talk further
  • embarrassment and frustration that I chose to sit with the journalist on the train, even after he’d said goodbye – felt like wasted time
  • irritation that I stepped off the train in Thessaloniki, thinking the option was for a stretch break, only to see the train leave us on the platform
  • more irritation that I still wanted to continue on to Athens but it would now cost us a lot more to make that journey, after stepping off the train in Thessaloniki
  • excitement at earning so much money for the geometry equipment at the market in Budapest
  • curiosity at what I will find if I follow a conversation to Izmir
  • foreboding at the mechanical army in Vienna
  • fear upon boarding a ship to Karachi with a questionable crew
  • sense of accomplishment after making a sale that tripled our money

c) Analytic Notes

After playing, consider your experience more holistically — What problems did it present me with? What options did it give me (to address those problems)? When and how does the game invoke gender, class, race, violence in ways that might be problematic? Reflecting on Bogost, what do you think the video game DOES or enact? What about learning? Does anything stand out as a ‘defining’ or ‘unique’ feature of the game?

Problems Presented:

  • figuring out the fastest routes
  • making sure that we were not robbed or swindled
  • managing our finances
  • earning additional money
  • keeping us healthy
  • luggage space

Options to Address the Problems:

  • doing additional work for money
  • buying and selling goods along the way
  • repacking suitcases
  • buying extra luggage space
  • asking questions and gaining tips from characters in the game
  • stopping to rest where needed

Elements of Game Play around Gender, Class, Race, Violence in Ways that Might be Problematic:

  • there are definite examples of classism in the way you are treated in the game from how you are dressed – but at times the advantage is towards looking as though you fit in and at other times towards giving the impression of a gentleman
  • there are certainly threats of violence at points in the game, but so far we’ve managed to avoid an outright violence
  • there are certainly suggestions in places of flirtation and distrust between male and female characters

I’d say though that none of the above is problematic, rather it is realistic to what you navigate as a traveller, getting the player to think about the circumstances of others and inequities that people face. In fact, had the game been more historically inaccurate, we might have seen much more of this, but we did not, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover many female characters throughout the game in positions of leadership.

What is the Video Game Doing or Enacting?

  • while the games goal is to travel around the world in 80 days, I think ultimately the game is building empathy and understanding of different people’s perspectives and choices based on their circumstances and the pressures placed upon them
  • there is certainly also an appreciation shared within for the steampunk genre of art and imagination, a love of travel and different modes of transport, and an cherishing of literature

Elements of Learning:

  • instil a love of literature, both new and classic stories
  • world geography
  • modes of travel (even if some within 80 Days are ficitious)
  • empathy
  • spark an interest in learning about history and culture, and how those impact an individual

Defining or Unique Features of the Game:

  • the steampunk twist to an old story
  • positive and multi-layered depictions of female characters
  • encouraging empathy and interest in culture, history, and geography through playing your way through an elaborate and fantastical story, overlaps with realism

Fieldnote Summary Session 2

At the end of your fieldnotes for session two, craft one or two sentences (no more) that, for you, summarize your experiences of learning this new game, and what specific elements/skills/etc., based on your experience of solo play, to be the most important in getting a ‘handle’ on the game. Include at least one image that demonstrated this / these crucial game elements / skills / characteristics.

80 Days is a very different game from what I was expecting, but one that I am thoroughly enjoying, as I get wrapped up in the story and attempt to navigate the globe strategically without running out of money. The trick seems to be engaging other characters, to open up new routes of travel and gain tips, as well as using my time wisely upon arrival at a new destination, keeping a close eye on the time, lest you miss your desired departure.

Game Log 1 : 80 Days – First Impressions Before Playing

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As a part of my studies in Digital Games, Learning, and Pedagogy (ETEC 565S), we are to analyze a game that we have not played before, creating field notes around it. As this is an interesting exercise in dissecting game design, I thought I’d share my game logs here, along with the case study that I write up from my fieldnotes.

For those of you curious, this is the Game Log Assessment from Dr. Jen Jenson, that I will be working through.

Name of Game: 80 Days

Date Analyzed:

Monday August 10th, 2020

Session 1: Before Playing

Each of these question aims to get at a general notion, “what expectations (about this game) am I coming in with?” The goal in this reflection is not to test the accuracy of your predictions; rather, the goal is to identify and reflect upon the assumptions and biases you, as an observer, are bringing into the experience, as catalyzed by the games’ promotional material, introductory screen, any other descriptive or suggestive information.

Answer the Questions

With this in mind, respond to each of the following questions:

What will I like / dislike about it?

  • I am excited for some travel and adventure, even if it is just virtual travel and adventure.
  • Given that this game is set in 1872, and based around Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in Eighty Days, I suspect if the game plans to be historically accurate that I will need to prepare myself for some systemic racism and sexism.
Meg Jayanth at the 2016 Game Developers Conference.
  • I love that this game is written by a woman, Meg Jayanth.
  • I wish the purpose of the game was not to get around the world in 80 days, as I know I am going to want to take my time to explore the various places within the game.
  • I will definitely miss not being able to enjoy the local tastes in the virtual places I visit in the game.

What will I find interesting about it / boring or tedious about it?

  • I am really hoping to learn about the culture of the different places that I virtually visit in the game.
  • At present I have high hopes that there isn’t anything that I will find tedious. Although on a real life trip, that would be the constant packing for me, waiting in airports, and flights.

What will I need to do in it?

  • Attempt to travel around the world in 80 days.

What will I need to learn within it?

  • Trip preparedness.
  • Fastest modes of travel.
  • Strategic routes of travel.
  • Possibly local customs.

What will it be like / similar to (other games I have played)?

  • It will possibly have some similarities with Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and The 39 Cues, in that a knowledge of culture and geography will help you to advance in the game at a faster rate.

Fieldnote Summary Session 1

At the end of your fieldnotes for session one, craft one or two sentences (no more) that, for you, summarize your expectations prior to playing, and what these expectations are based on. Include one image that catalyzed and/or supported your expectations.

As I get set to embark on this adventure with 80 Days, I am filled with a sense of excitement and anticipation for discovery. The sort of excitement and anticipation that I’d normally have from real world travel, but I am pleased that a video game can offer me in a virtual adventure in our present pandemic. Like in my real world travels, I am hoping to learn about culture, be met with the unexpected, and enjoy a few thrills along the way.

An Inkle Studio game.
StoryToGo