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In this video, game designer Sande Chen discusses how public science literacy is cultivated through game-based learning, simulations, citizen science games, and game creation. Last year, I was honored to speak at the 2018 World Conference on Science Literacy in Beijing, China.  It was an amazing day to hear from colleagues and analysts about their work in serious games, game-based learning, or gamification. Many thanks to TenCents, who hosted and organized the forum. About Me:  Sande Chen is a writer and game designer with over 15 years of experience in the game industry.  Her writing credits include 1999 Independent Games Festival winner Terminus, MMO Hall of Fame inductee Wizard101, and the 2007 PC RPG of the Year, The Witcher, for which she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award in Videogame Writing.  She is the co-author of the book, Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform, and was a contributor to Secrets of the Game … [Read more...] about Public Science Literacy Through Entertainment Games

I had a different opening paragraph for this article until I went looking for a header image. Now I’ve deleted it, and instead I’m going to talk about why I’m in love with this picture of Park “Saebyeolbe” Jongryeol. This is my 22nd and penultimate entry in this column, and choosing a lead photo is always one of my favourite parts, because there are also always so many moments of joy to choose from. Yes, you’ll often see pictures of players looking focused or upset, but my personal style guide generally skews towards an image of celebration. Like this one. Except Saebyeolbe just lost a game in this image. That confetti is San Francisco Shock orange; they just made it to playoffs, leaving Saebyolbe and the rest of the Excelsior in third place. But he’s still smiling, congratulating his team, generally looking on top of the world. It’s more than okay for players to be gutted after losing, and they should be given the space to feel that way … [Read more...] about Know It OWL: Dawn of the final day

Skateboarding was born out of the surfer movement of California in the early 1950s, when a bunch of surfers were dismayed that their surfboards ground to a halt whenever they tried to surf along park benches or ollie over a man lying down in the street with an egg in his mouth. By adding wheels to their boards, and making the boards really tiny, and then doing something with ball bearings I guess, they transformed a once aquatic hobby into a cool new sport that could be enjoyed while wearing cargo pants. The ability to skate anywhere and everywhere spawned a counterculture movement among rebellious young skateboarders, who had no issues “flipping the bird” to the “pigs” who couldn’t “deal” with their attitude towards the “unconventional use of public urban spaces hijacked by faceless corporate landlords following the capitalist land-grab of the mid-20th century”, maaan. Which brings us to hurtling through the subsequent decades to … [Read more...] about Premature Evaluation: Session

Monolithic news. Xenoblade Chronicles is getting a re-release on Nintendo Switch, under the name Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Announced at the end of tonight's Nintendo Direct, details on what's changed and when exactly it will launch are still thin on the ground, although we got around a minute of footage showing how it will look. Originally launched on Wii, and subsequently launched on 3DS, this new version will arrive at some point in 2020.Here's our first glimpse at how it looks: … [Read more...] about Xenoblade Chronicles is coming to Nintendo Switch

Hi!  I'm pleased to share with you that I will be a keynote speaker at the Second Annual Interactive Fiction Creator's Conference, presented by Decision Fiction.  I will be talking about game design and interactive fiction on Saturday September 28th at 11 AM.  The conference is free to attend and online.  Simply sign up at the link. I hope you will tune in to hear what writers, technologists, and game developers have to say about the state of interactive fiction. The theme is "Interactive Fiction For Everyone!" I am especially delighted about this event because this will be my second time as an remote speaker. I'm certain it won't be as complicated as the last time when I used an avatar in a virtual world to present a lecture about how technology is changing storytelling. There was no Microsoft Powerpoint in that virtual world, lol! the details!  Second Annual Interactive Fiction Creator's Conference When: Saturday September 28th & Sunday September … [Read more...] about Second Annual Interactive Fiction Creator’s Conference