This week I was working with a client who was putting together a game for a kiosk at a trade show. During the course of the conversation, she kept raving about how much she loves BRAVO! She said, that she loved how easy it was to build a game, and was surprised by the flexibility she had in branding the game for their client.

She began, by showing me the game she created, and honestly, I was quite impressed. She had used her client’s corporate colors and logos to brand the game, and had used an animated Flash intro screen, (this appears when the game is first launched), with the clients’ artwork, to really give the game a custom look. She even created a unique stage, that went along with the theme of the game (a retro 1970’s theme). Additionally, they created their own Avatars, complete with custom clothing and hair styles from the 70’s, to go along with the theme. Once she realized how much she could customize the game on her own, there was no stopping her!

What is unique about the BRAVO! game builder suite, is that it is the ONLY game builder suite that allows a user to customize just about everything in the game. Not only can you easily add your own content, but, you can also customize the overall feel of the game (and you don’t have to be a programmer to do it!) Your game, when it is done, will look like you spent thousands of dollars to have a custom design made specifically for you.

One of the things our client mentioned, was that they had spent a lot of time looking for game builder software. She said that she found one product that allowed some very basic branding (like the ability to add a logo, and a limited template selection), but that was it. This software developer provided a “customizing service,” for a fee. “Why would I want to pay them,” she said, “when BRAVO! allows me to do all of the customizing I need, without any outside help?” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. ;-)

Recently, I sat through a session where an instructor jammed packed it with so much stuff, if I could have retained a quarter of it, I would be a rocket scientist by now. But the fact is this, and I see it all the time, where instructors get so bogged down in the list of what they want to cover they lose sight of what their true objective is, which is to make sure their students learn something.

This also reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague recently about an upcoming training session we were going to present. My colleague made a list of things we should include; it was quite impressive I might add. After I heard the list, I asked this question: What is the objective of the session? Is it to cover the list or is it to have our audience feel comfortable and actually learn something? Because if you want me to cover everything on the list, I can do that blind folded, I can spew out information all day long. But if you want my audience to actually retain information and learn something and actually be engaged in the learning process, then that requires a different strategy.

I realize that sometimes we get stuck in a situation where we need to cover X,Y, and Z, and it needs to be covered in a specific time frame, but if you do have an option of the content you can deliver, consider these wise words: “Sometimes, less is more!”. I find myself more and more looking at what is my true objective, and it usually boils down to getting my class to learn. And just because I can spew out data, facts and other stuff all day long (and man I can do this without batting an eye), I have to look at what is my true objective, and whenever possible, I find myself teaching less content so my students can learn more.

In my previous blog, I talked about how a client was concerned about the “gamey look” of a game and that it may not be viewed as a serious teaching tool. I’ve since followed up with that client, and here’s what we found:
Of the 7,817 people that played the games in the past 15 days (3 different groups and three different games), the data suggests that it was a success. The majority of those who played a game, played it all the way to the end. About one-third, played the game at least twice, and the average time spent playing the game was 5:15 minutes. The game consisted of 9 questions, and featured additional teaching points in most questions.
The issue, as they saw it, was with one of the test groups. This group had the largest audience, and in fact had the smallest number of plays compared to the other groups. At first, they thought the “frivolous” look of game may have prevented many from playing the game. But, after studying the data, they realized that the game was not the issue at all – it was the way it was promoted that kept their audience from playing.
Let me give you a little information so you can follow:The data collection starts as soon as a game is launched. If their original observation was correct (that people opened the game, thought it was too gamey, and immediately closed it), then we would see a higher number of clicks or opens of the game, but a much shorter time in game play (much less than 5:14 minutes). Since we know that the majority of people who clicked on the game, played it all the way through, we know we had a different issue. It became obvious, to the client, that the issue was rooted in perception.
Why? We believe that the game was presented to this group in a way that marginalized the educational impact of the game. They actually doomed the game before people even got to it, by describing the game as a “fun holiday trivia game.” In fact, the game (although it had a holiday theme) contained no holiday content. It featured questions, based on educational articles from their website, that would not only teach them something, but encourage them to dig in and learn more.
This goes back to something I have mentioned many times, “be careful how you describe your game.” Be aware that the word “game,” connotes many things to different people. Games provide a powerful vehicle for delivering instructional content, but may be perceived as a frivolous exercise. If you want your game to be taken seriously (and reap the benefits that games provide – engagement, motivation, interaction), make sure you let your audience know that they might just learn something while “playing”.