Gamification for the Win! Escape from Detention

You're looking at the proud smiling faces of a middle school Game App designer. Howard County Middle School students Tekye (and family friend to MHMS) and our own MHMS 8th grader Lasya, participated in an exciting program called HiTech - wherein they helped to create a super cool APP Game called Escape from Detention. And by the way, it's NOT EASY! It somehow reminds me of Frogger Get a peek at the game with this YouTube video! Here's a few screenshots I grabbed off my iPad to give you an idea what it looks like!
From an email from Tekye's proud mom, friend Catina (and former MHMS English teacher!) "The new game offers a variety of break out scenarios at escalating levels of complexity. Download the (free) game and try your hand at “springing” the student from captivity while avoiding myriad pitfalls. Escape is available for iPhones, iPads, and Android systems. App Store linkGoogle Play image I am so very proud of the work completed by the teenagers and the HiTech team that I had to share with you." 
According to an HCL press release: “More than 1,200 students between the ages of 11 and 18 [all of whom are students, public, private, or home-schooled, living in Howard County] have participated in HiTech classes since its inception … creating music, 3D images, videos [and] e-books.”
From an article by: Technically Baltimore: "Mindgrub Technologies, the Catonsville-based innovation agency that started a new gaming division this year, has released its latest game. Escape from Detention is a collaboration with students participating with the Howard County Library’s HiTech, the library’s new STEM digital media lab, who helped with the game’s design and development. Players maneuver detention-serving digital students around time-based obstacles (desks and other students) inside of classrooms. Download Escape! From Detention for Android or iOS. The game itself was produced in Corona, said Alex Hachey, Mindgrub’s creative lead, at the Baltimore Mobile Meetup in December. Producing the game in Corona makes it cross-platform, so it’ll work on iOS, Android, the Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook. Hachey also said the game development was paid for, as it’s a “client services game.”
Over a six-week period, Mindgrub employees served as instructors teaching students at the HiTech lab principles on game design, theory and logic, as well as teaching classes on producing sound effects, characters and game layout. It was the students who came up with concept for Escape! From Detention." Again, I played it....and it's NOT EASY -- but I really want to make it to the library!   
Credits:
Photos of Tekye by his Mom, Catina & PicMonkey designed by me

HiTech is funded in part through a federal grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and IMLS.  

Comments

  1. MZMollyTLFebruary 17, 2013 at 8:20 PM

    Congratulations to Tekye on what sounds like an awesome game! I'd disagree with your blog post title - I don't think this is gamification, which, according to Wikipedia is "the use of game-thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context in order to engage users and solve problems". This is authentic learning, respecting games and education both. Great project!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @GwynethJones - The Daring LibrarianFebruary 18, 2013 at 8:11 PM

      Cool, thanks for the clarification - but as shallow as I am I thought the title grabbed! Besides, in that definition the long work they did on coding the game, creating graphics & storyboarding before the design I thought made it fit. But hey! Always happy to learn & get constructive crit! Cheers!
      ~Gwyneth

      Delete
  2. Matthew C. WinnerFebruary 17, 2013 at 11:04 PM

    SO cool! Thanks for posting on "Escape from Detention!" It's been consuming my iPad time more than I'd care to admit :) Yay, gamification!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @GwynethJones - The Daring LibrarianFebruary 18, 2013 at 8:09 PM

      Thanks dearie! YOU are a gaming expert & having your stamp of approval means a lot to me. Even though I'm not a gaming expert (except when it comes to Plants vs. Zombies!) I really wanted to share the triumphs of Tekye and our A+ Partnership w/ HCL !!

      Go HoCo!
      ~Gwynnie

      Delete
  3. Super Hero-Mobile GameNovember 20, 2014 at 11:17 AM

    Nice game.I have little bit.To get the key from the light:detach a corner the piece of paper; switch on the tap in the janitor's room and dunk the paper scrap in it; Rub the over off the board elastic to uncover a straw; consolidate the straw and the soggy paper ball to make a pea-shooter and blow it at the key.Best wishes.~Maria Brown.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Makerspace for Little or Nothing

Image
Makerspace for Little or Nothing You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to start a Makerspace area. You don't have to have a designated room or rip out bookcases. You can even have a Makerspace on a cart! When we have testing in our Library, I put all our Makerspace stuff on an AV cart and roll it into our server room.  This post evolved from a previous post called Makerspace Starter Kit Updated where I had some of these idea, but I felt that it deserved it's own expanded post. You can take baby steps into the Maker Movement.  I've been saying that for 7 years or so....long before I blogged about it, I tried it out. Yeah, sometimes I try things on the sly to see if they are blogworthy for you! Now....having said that..... WARNING: Controversial Opinion Ahead.  I'm not 100% sold, even after 7 years of talking about the Maker Movement, that it's something that's here to stay and not just a fad. Even though I've (without knowing it!)
Keep reading

Makerspace Starter Kit Updated

Image
Three years ago I shared my Makerspace Starter Kit with you or what I was buying to boost our Makerspace area using four empty Library study carrels that no longer held desktop Macs.  That post has consistently been one of the most viewed posts every week for years and years - with more than 83 THOUSAND views, gee whiz! (Crazy, right?) So, I thought maybe it was time to update it!*  Since then, I've had some major Makerspace successes and a couple dismal (and expensive) Makerspace failures!  So, here's the latest for ya'll with the good, the bad, and the bloody awful! Our MHMS Makerspace How it works: Kids can come in before the 1st period late bell rings, during lunch, or when they've finished their work in class to explore, craft, and create in the Library Media Center. It's not a "class" or an organized offering. It's a free form optional offering of constructivist learning and creativity! It's not as big as some and it hasn't tak
Keep reading

Curating the Happy for Your Future Self

Image
Teacher Tip #112 Teacher Self-Care:  Create a Happy Folder In my School Library Media office desk I had a manilla folder where I carefully tucked all the hand written notes from kiddos & parents to read on a rainy day. I also SHAMELESSLY would first tape them to my office door (let the other teachers internally writhe with envy!)  Nah, really just to keep me motivated and also show the kiddos I appreciated their heartfelt little notes!  But.....before I tucked it away tenderly or taped it to my door, I took a picture of it and uploaded it to Flickr. A digital Happy Folder that pays back dividends of warm fuzzies and motivations for your future self.  Because, let's not kid ourselves, being an educator right now is HARD.  Start this habit NOW.  Don't be like me and wait 10 or 15 years. OK, some of that was because cell phones and digital cameras weren't as handy and as ubiquitous back then. But do your future self a favor, there will be days when you will need it.  Make
Keep reading