Comments on: e-Bug

By: David Farrell

David Farrell — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:35:04 +0000

Hi there,

I’m responsible for these ‘pathetic’ games so I thought I’d throw my tuppence in.

There are two games on the site.

The Platform Game( http://www.e-bug.eu/ebug/game/movies/e-Bug%20Junior%20Game.swf ) is aimed at 9-12 year olds. This game turned out to be really popular amoungst the target audience with > 90% (of 150+ children) saying either that they’d play it again or that they’d recommend it to a friend. It was also very effective at teaching many of our learning outcomes. So I hope that you didn’t dismiss the game on the basis of the quiz that the game starts with or on the basis of it taking a couple of minutes to get used to the controls – adults seem to find it much harder to play than children!

The only negative feedback from pupils on this game (aside from lack of sound) was that they didn’t like the ‘Blind Question Round’. We will be removing the Blind Quiz round shortly. Give it a shot (or plonk a kid in front of it and watch) and hopefully you’ll find it more fun than you first thought.

The second game is the Detective Game ( http://e-bug.eu/ebug/eng/eng/s/game/e-Bug_Detectives_Evaluation_4_2/code/SeniorGame.swf ).
This game is the one that you say is “boring adult conversation style”. It’s aimed at 13-15 year olds and is modelled on Phoenix Wright which is a popular game on the Nintendo DS. This game wasn’t quite as popular as the platform game and it has two main issues. Firstly, if a youth doesn’t enjoy reading, they do switch off straight away. Secondly, the game interface isn’t as intuitive as we planned. We have written a new tutorial which will make it easier to understand and we’ll be updating the game over the next month or two to put this in.

I’m sorry that you didn’t fall in love with the games but I can assure you that we have worked increadibly closely with young people (play tests roughly monthly for over a year) and teachers to develop these games. I’m pretty confident that the Platform Game is very fun for 9-12 year olds (even with the Blind Quiz round) and we hope to improve the Detective Game shortly.

Thanks for the feedback. I hope that we can give you a better impression next time.

Don’t forget though that there are also lots of resources on the site for teachers too.

By: coldtoes

coldtoes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:15:20 +0000

but what is the point if the game is not understandable (not enough instructions) and impossible to play (using the cursor keys was very frustrating and at one point my character got completely stuck)? Something that is not practical or usable will not be used in schools – so that makes the whole project pointless. I was not comparing the game to a console game!! I was comparing it to a basic children’s game on CBeebies! They know how to make them straightforward.

By: AJ Cann

AJ Cann — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:35:14 +0000

I agree that these games don’t compare favorably with the current generation of console games, but then again, nowhere near the same amount of money has been spent on their development as on “FIFA09″ or the latest Grand Turismo.
So which is better – no game at all or to attempt to try to engage children in in health issues?

By: coldtoes

coldtoes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:30:00 +0000

Have you tried these games Dr Cann? I was quite enthusiastic about this educational tool so I went to the site, thinking I might recommend it on my blog and mention it to headteachers I know.
I tried the games and they are pathetic!! My kids use far better games and informational websites every day – eBug seems to have no sound (completely silent), a boring adult conversational style, and maybe a few bugs! The games are also incredibly hard for adult, let alone a child, to use – the game designers could take lessons from the CBeebies website it is so awful!!
What a shame when we so need a public information tool like this. If the bureaucracies focused on the user instead of reaching their identified ‘goal’ then the idea might work.