Computer Games for Kids, by Kids - Part 2
...continued
Conversations in Adventure
Games
The third project of the fifth grade class is
devoted to games. This is an open-ended activity
few limitations. The students work on mazes, races,
adventure games, sports games, and board games. It
is interesting to see where conversations appear in
these games. Sometimes the conversation is the
essential component of a game and sometimes it is
the dialogue that moves the player to other parts
of the game.
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Selena's IQ Test
Selena's IQ Test is a quiz where the
player is rated on how knowledgeable she
is with the fifth grade social studies
curriculum. Each correct answer receives a
score and the points are tallied up in the
end. Selena gives the player an
opportunity to review the facts by going
to the library and checking out a book.
But some books are unavailable.
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Click here to download
a copy of this game.
You'll need the Macintosh version of
MicroWorlds 2.03 to play it.
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Nina's Singled Out
Nina's Singled Out is based on the 1970's
television show, The Dating Game. In the television
version, the contestant made their choices based on
the answers given by the three potential dates
hidden behind the wall. It was not always clear if
the date seekers made their selections based on a
particular answer to one question or from a
combination of several answers.
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Nina was aware of this feature of the
television game and recreated it in
Singled Out. She added
and to the
if statements which
allows if to take account
of multiple conditions. When
and is present, both
conditions must be true in order to run
the instruction list.
Notice that Nina asks a lot of
questions, though only a few of those
questions matter in determining the
player's date.
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Click here to download
a copy of this game.
You'll need the Macintosh version of
MicroWorlds 2.03 to play it.
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- to
maleanswer
- announce
[Come on and meet the guys!]
- page3
- announce
(se[Hey
boys meet]
:name1
[a]
:age
[year old]
:gender
[!])
- announce
(se[Number
1 say hello to]
:name1[.])
B1
- announce
(se[Now
number 2 say hello to]
:name1[.])
B2
- announce
(se[OK
number 3 say hello to]
:name1
[.])
B3
- announce
[Now its time to see which of these lovely
guys is YOUR perfect match!]
- question
(se
:name1
[Are you more of a committed person or are
you more of a go with the flow type of person?
Type in flow or commit.])
name
answer "flow
- question
[Do you prefer baths or showers?]
- question
[Do you like music or books more?]
- question
[Is your ideal man quiet and sweet or
outgoing and wild? Type in QS or OW]
name
answer "ideal
- announce
[The guy for you is]
- if and
equal?
:ideal
"qs
equal?
:flow
"flow
- [bum1,
clickon
wait 20
page4 mel1
COP]
- if and
equal?
:ideal
"ow
equal?
:flow
"commit
- [bum1,
clickon
wait 20
page4 mel1 COP
]
- if and
equal?
:ideal
"qs
equal?
:flow
"commit
- [bum1,
clickon
wait 20
page8 mel1
COP]
- if and
equal?
:ideal
"ow
equal?
:flow
"flow
- [bum1,
clickon
wait 20
page5 mel1
COP]
- end
B1, B2, and
B3 are voice recordings of the men
saying their "hellos."
Teriha's Croaks game
The conversation element in Teriha's Croaks game
is of a different nature than in the games
described above. Conversation is
part of Talk, one of three
sections of her game. The others are,
Eat and Maze.
Each section can be played at anytime, though
Conversation explains why the
player should play Eat.
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- to
conversation
- announce
[Let's talk!]
- question
[First of all, what's your
name?]
- name
answer "name
- announce
(se
[Oh! Hi]
:name
[! Since I lost my bug, I'm
sad.])
- question
[Umm. . . What's your favorite
food?]
- name
answer "food
- announce
[Mine is fried flies.]
- question
[Sounds good huh?]
- name
answer "voh
- ifelse
equal?
:voh
"no
- [announce
[I bet my flies are a LOT better than your
lunch at school!]
lunchi]
- [announce
[Lots of protein!]]
- announce
[Anyway, since my lunch flew away from me,
let's not talk about food.]
- question
[Let's see. Oh, I know! Do you like to
swim?]
- name
answer "swim
- ifelse
equal?
:swim
"yes
- [announce
[Really? Me too! I love swimming 'cause it's
so much fun!]]
- [announce
[You don't? I can't believe
it!]]
- announce
[Well, I have to eat something or else I'll
feel REALLY starving. Could you go back to the
Game page and feed me?]
- end
-
- to
lunchi
- question
[Wait, do you like your school
lunch?]
- name
answer "luncho
- ifelse
equal?
:luncho
"no
- [announce
[Phew, I was getting kind of
nervous!]]
- [announce
[. . . Uhh. . . you do?]]
- end
Feeding time: the player clicks on the frog to
make its tongue try to catch the fly and not the
bird or horse (yuch)!
Caroline's TV Game
Board games are also popular with the students.
Caroline's TV Game is a little different from other
board games because it has a lot of talk. The
player doesn't know it, but a timer is set when the
start button is clicked. The player clicks on the
roll.dice button, a random number
is announced, the piece moves the designated number
of spaces and lands on a square. Some squares are
programmed to
announce
[pick a trivia card]
and send the player to a new page where she
clicks a color and must answer a piece of
television trivia. Wrong answers send the player
back to the start on the board game.
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Click here to download
a copy of this game.
You'll need the Macintosh version of
MicroWorlds 2.03 to play it.
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As one student reflected after playing her
classmates' games, "It's is a great way to get to
know a classmate. Everyone's personality comes
out."
In the next issue of Logo Update On Line we will
conclude this series of articles with a look at
adventure games and a variety of other types of
games that our students have developed over the
years.
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