Creating Games with Articulate Storyline

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What's in a Game?

There are so many ways to motivate learners to engage with material. For this post, I'm going to focus on a game I recently created using Articulate Storyline.



There is something to be said about the way we invest ourselves in games and what we learn from them. Ever since Oregon Trail days in the computer lab of my elementary school, I've recognized the power of games and quests to motivate learners to reach goals. For example, it's one thing to memorize various diseases connected to the plight of Westward travelers of the 19th century for a Social Studies unit - it's quite another to spend hours in a game "going West" only to die of dysentery yourself!

Project Goals

For this project, I decided to showcase my skills with Articulate Storyline for creating eLearning materials.

Specifically, I focused on the following:

• Timing elements
• Animations
• Interactivity and choice
• Sequencing seamless transitions between layers
• Audio syncing
• Embedded web video
• Locked/unlocked elements (action dependent)

Process

An Unusual Approach
Unlike many Instructional Design approaches, I tried to think about this as more of a way to hone in on specific skills rather than meeting specific learner needs. That means there was no needs analysis, no target audience, no interview with SME's or managers. Instead, I though about what makes a game fun, what creates a seamless experience, and the various ways information is transmitted, absorbed, played with, and otherwise learned through a game.

Go With What You Know
Since I'm the SME for this project, it seemed best to chose something I'm already knowledgeable about. In this case, I chose to base the game on my hometown, Boise, Idaho. I spent my youth traversing the downtown area and thought it would be fun (yes, fun!) to use what I know to help others get excited about exploring Boise themselves.

The coveted Boise Beginner Badge!

The Game
Prior to playing the game, there is a bit of an orientation process. The user interacts with Kara, the guide, and can choose to learn a bit of background knowledge on Boise before beginning their quest.

The game is actually quite simple: the learner must use a map key and a bit of moxie to explore the area and find the hidden landmarks. Once they've arrived to the Idaho State Capitol, they've won - at least the Demo Version, anyhow.

Inspired by map-based quests of my childhood, I picked a few major landmarks out from the downtown area and secretly marked them on a map. Each landmark contains hidden text and video about the spot that is only revealed once the location is identified and clicked on. After either reading the info-text or watching the video, each landmark is "collected" and a thumbnail image is placed on a left sidebar so the learner can see their progress.

Badges and Unlock-ables
To make it more engaging, I integrated a badge and unlocked-elements system into the game. The Demo Version will award one badge for reaching the end of the game and then "unlock" a video that highlights the Downtown Boise area (thanks to SyringaRealty for the excellent video!). Using a system of layers dependent on actions performed in the game, I was able to control the release of the badge and video to the learner.

A Final Note on Design

Using a system that promotes the learner through various stages of development (badges, unlockable elements) is a great way to keep someone motivated to move through a set of information.

However, if the pace of the learning program is too slow or too fast, the learner is going to have a bad time. The last thing a designer wants to find out is that the learner would have preferred reading the same information in a textbook (yikes!).

So I tried to think about pacing throughout the game, and I'm happy with the results. I made sure there are no unnecessary scenes, nothing that exists just to show off a design element (a la loopy slide transitions in PowerPoint). Also, the learner is in control - they can almost any scene - but I tried to design the game such that they should be enjoying themselves enough to have forgotten about the "Next" button.