Cub Crusade:
An Educational Video Game
In a world rampant with gaming addiction and exposure to inappropriate content, we've developed an educational video game that transforms screen time into a rich, constructive learning journey. This game engages children in the adventurous tale of a lion cub's migration, embedding learning opportunities within a narrative that encourages quality time between parents and kids. Our goal is to enrich children's educational experiences, supplementing traditional school subjects with diverse topics, all in a safe and captivating gaming environment.
DELIVERABLE
Educational Video Game
SETTING
Group project with Xiaofei He, Elizabeth Seader, Clara Vamvulescu, Kaiyao Xiao & Mya Mouradian
TIMELINE
18 weeks
The Problem Space
The current landscape of educational video games often struggle to strike a balance between being engaging and age-appropriate. Popular games like Minecraft captivate children's creativity but expose them to potentially harmful content or behaviors from other players, while those that prioritize educational value often fail to retain children's interest.
Our Solution
A captivating educational game that provides a safe, engaging environment for kids aged 5-10 to learn and explore, offering a platform for families to spend quality time together while ensuring the content delivered is both enriching and fun.
We can help with that
Cub Crusade is an educational video game that captivates the player with a challenging map-style game encompassing six intensifying levels, orchestrated by simple controls. The gameplay involves traversing through 42 cells, each representing a distinct level. The progression through the game is governed by the roll of the dice, with each roll costing an energy point from a total of three. As players surmount challenges, they earn power points, adding a competitive edge to the game. Success is determined by reaching the endpoint before energy points deplete, transforming each game into a thrilling journey of strategy, luck, and learning.
Level 1
Level one is a matching card game designed to teach children about a lion's physical characteristics. By clicking on different tiles and matching them, players will see fun facts about the lion's physical features, such as weight, height, length, color, lifespan, and the differences between male and female lions.
Level 2
The second level is a hide-and-seek game that teaches children about lion habitats, including tall grass, bushes, trees, and rocks in the Sahara environment. Players must choose the right hiding spot for the lion to avoid the wildlife photographer and safely return to the pride. The game informs players about which items in the environment can protect lions and which ones cannot.
Level 3
Level three, called “Follow the Food, " is designed to teach children about lion eating habits. Players must select all the food required to survive during migration. The four food options consist of one incorrect option and three correct options, requiring the players to rank the food choices in order of energy value to survive the migration.
Level 4
In level four, we teach players about lion herding habits and various vocabulary words about a lion’s pride and herding practices. The main player is prompted that they have been separated from their pride and must find all the words related to lion herding in the word search to be reunited with their pride.
Level 5
Level five combines lion roaring and math problem-solving. Children learn about lion roars, such as when and how lions roar and how to solve math problems. Players will hear a lion roar a certain number of times and then mimic the roars using a voice command function to reveal the number and equation symbol for the calculation. They also learn about the circumstances in which lions roar, including calling cubs, warning predators, and marking their territory.
Level 6
Level six teaches the players about lion vulnerability through a puzzle game designed to teach children about lions’ predators. Users will drag the pieces to the correct places to reveal the final image of a lion's predator and learn about their names. The game's design decisions were made to engage children while teaching them about various aspects of lion life and behavior in a fun and interactive way.
Our Process
Tap the button below to download our process book with an in-depth view on our research and how we landed on our final designs & features.