The Museum as Game Space:Creating educational

games for museum galleries

Why I Love Serious Games

2008: Fascinating!

1981: Not fascinating…

The Getty Villa

Digital Museum Gallery Games

Mystery @ the Museum Boston Museum of Science (2003)

Played by parent and child teams with a Pocket PC and a walkie-talkie

Ghosts of a ChanceSmithsonian American Art Museum (2008-2010)

Murder at the Met The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2012)

Maryland Science CenterPlanetMania (2013)

Capture the MuseumNational Gallery of Scotland (2013)

The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty CenterSwitch – Phases I & II (2012 & 2013)

Games at the Getty Villa

Creating a Game for the Getty VillaPhase I – Paper Prototype (2010)

Phases II & III – Partnering with the Rochester Institute of Technology

Design Document

iPod Prototype

Mosaic: Narrative

Mosaic: Quests

Mosaic Battles: a match-3 mechanic

Mosaic: Winning the Game

Mosaic: Increasing Difficulty

Level 1 challenges

Final Battle

Mosaic: Game Play

Mosaic: Win State

Mosaic: Audience Feedback so far•It’s fun (7.5-10 out 10).•The number of in-game rounds of match-3 need to be reduced.•How the game moves you through the museum needs to be rethought.•Scavenger hunt aspect gets high ratings from players.•People don’t explore buttons for information (Help) or game play (Change ability).•The map needs some work.•People read and enjoy the narrative.•Some players pay attention to works of art while playing, others don’t – the game does not require looking at the works of art.

Remaining Questions and Next Steps

Game players must learn what the game requires in order to advance to a win.

How do I make the content I want to teach:•Close looking at works of art•Information about how ancient works of art were made and used

function as what the player must learn to win the game – and keep the game engaging at the same time?