[GUEST POST] Medical Conditions
Ng Rui Xin
Guest Author (TJC)
The initial brainstorming/ideation phase:
At first, when we were assigned the task to choose a topic of interest for our individual games, I was unsure of how to go about choosing a topic. Thus, I looked into the Gametize platform for existing games to gain inspiration. I brainstormed and came up with eight ideas, ranging from travel to a pet-themed game.
I started ruling out existing concepts with similar designs to narrow my scope and omitting ideas with limited room for development. I whittled the initial eight ideas down to two. My first game allows users to experience different career options while the other immerses users in the lives of people living with disabilities. After presenting those two ideas to my mentors, I decided to focus on the gamification of learning, applying it to medical conditions as it was a unique and intriguing topic. Inspired by the colourblind painting TikTok trend, I settled on a game that will introduce medical conditions through a series of challenges.
Desired outcome/goal
Through this game, I wanted more people to overcome misconceptions about people with disabilities and to understand these people rather than judge them. This game gives users a chance to step into the shoes of the disabled and learn more about them!
Narrative
Medical Conditions is a game where users get to experience a day in the life of our Gametize mascot, Maki, in school. As Maki introduces its world of colour blindness, users follow along on the journey, carrying out real-life challenges similar to what colourblind people experience daily. Hence, learning more about what it is like to be colourblind.
Visuals
To ensure that the game was immersive, pictures of Maki were used, showing different locations and doing different activities. Hence, users can better understand the storyline, and feel like Maki is bringing them around the school. However, some of the icons did not fit the specific look that I had in mind. Thus, I picked up some editing skills and created my own picture. Using a phone application, I edited an image of Maki onto a colourblind test background picture. After consulting with my mentor, I used the tool “blend” to try to merge the two images together, making them look more cohesive.
Features of the game
Throughout the game, many different types of challenges were used, for different purposes.
The photo challenges were used to allow users to try out challenges that colourblind people encounter in their daily lives and upload pictures to showcase their challenge attempts.
Challenges were also left unlocked to allow users the freedom to skip past and come back to them later if they were unable to complete them at that moment.
Achievements and Rewards
The Super Graduate achievement is given to the players who managed to complete all the challenges as a form of recognition. As for rewards, players were able to redeem a chance to donate to a charity of their choice under their name. As the aim of the game was to remove the stigma and judgement against the disabled, having a donation as a reward aligns with the aim, encouraging players to be more considerate towards different members of society and helping those who are in need.
Challenges Faced
Throughout the whole process of creating the game, I faced multiple challenges. Following my topic of medical conditions, my initial plan was to present information regarding colour blindness. However, upon running the game, I realised it lacked engagement and was dull to the user. Thus, I took inspiration from the other games.
I created a short storyline and incorporated a fictional character to attract my users. The character, Maki, was hence incorporated into the game. Maki’s role was to accompany the users around the school’s various locations for a more interactive experience. Additional features, such as embedding youtube videos and completion messages were also added in, grabbing the attention of the users, and allowing the game to flow smoothly.
Summary
All in all, this game experience enables players to learn more about disabilities while having fun. I hope that this game brings awareness to what these people with medical conditions go through daily and reduces the stigma against them.