SHADOW CASTLE (in progress)


BACK-
GROUND
Let’s face it, words are weird. We go from representing a tent by drawing triangular shapes and draping blankets over chairs and couches to looking at a series of arbitrary letters and lines that have nothing to do with the form or function of a tent. Yet as we move through our elementary years and beyond, we’re expected to master this strange form and leave behind the creative practices that built the foundation of our early knowledge.
Unfortunately for some, a singular focus on text-based representations simply doesn’t align with how they learn and share. Such students may come to view reading as a passive act that leaves no room for imagination or creative interpretation – their job is to decode, recite, and memorize someone else’s ideas. Unsurprisingly, this view causes such learners to lose the motivation or desire to engage with text at all
Shadow Castle is an interactive multiplayer game that encourages aliterate learners to re-engage with stories in hands-on ways to help them recognize that their personal and creative ways of making meaning are valid. By encouraging learners to engage with narrative in multimodal ways, it’s my hope that players will develop an awareness of how multiple senses and modes contribute to our understanding and comprehension, which will in turn improve their confidence toward and enjoyment in literacy-related activities. The game leverages:
Cooperation: To give encourage players to work together to solve problems and communicate their understandings
Multimodality: To explicitly guide players through the semiotic process of meaning making using multiple senses and modes
Tactile touch: To bring form and function to the meaning of words to build comprehension and vocabulary skills
AIMS
HOW TO PLAY
Shadow Castle is a physical pop up storybook with projected game elements. Players must work and communicate together to manipulate tactile objects and harness the ability of words to solve puzzles and help guide the main character, Lucy, through a dark and mysterious forest. Each player has a distinct role that is meant to compliment and support the other's.
Player 1
One player is 'in charge' of the physical elements of the book. She is responsible for manipulating the pages much like you would see in a touch and feel storybook for children, which often have textures, tabs, spin-wheels, flaps, and so on. To know which items to move and how, this player must pay attention to clues within the narrative text and translate them to physical sensations (such as finding prickly bushes versus smooth ones).
Player 2
The second player is in charge of Lucy's new sidekick, a lost little shadow creature who is displayed on the book via an overhead projector. This little shadow is not only able to fly around, but he can 'swallow' words within the narrative text and use them as abilities. For example, in a sentence containing the word fire, the shadow can harness that word and use it to light torches in the gameworld and keep the darkness at bay. The shadow is controlled by a plushie puppet held in the player's hand (currently, this movement is tied to a game controller while the prototype is under construction).
Setup
A Makey Makey is responsible for detecting players' interactions with the book's pages. The corresponding wires will eventually be hidden within hollow 3D printed pages to add to the illusion of the book. Lining these pages will be a range of textures made of fabric, paper, and any other necessary mediums to add to the multisensory feel. The book will sit on a slightly tilted pedestal so players can comfortably stand or sit side by side as they work together to move through the game (each page is a new level). The digital elements of the game as well as trigger relationships are created in a 2D Unity project.
PROCESS PICTURES







