Mentor Game Details
Award winner “Logical Journey of the Zoombinis” was originally developed by Chris Hancock and Scot Osterweil, who were co-workers at the Technical Education Research Centers (or TERC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (TERC, 2024a). The game was launched with tremendous success in partnership with Broderbund in 1996, but as technology evolved the edutainment software was unable to keep pace (Toppo, 2015). Ownership of “Logical Journey of the Zoombinis” changed hands several times, and the game all but disappeared in a stream of mergers. In a surprising twist, TERC was able to reclaim the software in 2011, and in 2015 launched a Kickstarter campaign; news of the game’s revival was received with glee by long-time fans who more than doubled the $50,000 funding goal for an updated desktop version. According to Toppo’s article in USA Today, “Zoombinis” re-launched on August 6, 2015 through the Android and Apple Apps stores, and on Macintosh and Windows desktop platforms shortly thereafter.
Figure 1.
Audience, Gameplay, and Rules
According to the ebook Zoombinis, the game was researched and developed primarily to build computational thinking practices through play, serving students in grades three through eight, although it has fans of all ages (TERC, 2022). See Figure 1. for more specificity around computational thinking and research regarding audience and gameplay reasoning (EdGE at TERC, 2016). The core objective of Zoombinis is to guide a group of Zoombinis from their homeland, Zoombini Isle, to a new, safe place called Zoombiniville. Along the way, players must navigate the Zoombinis through a series of increasingly complex puzzles. These puzzles encourage and develop mathematical thinking processes, including looking for patterns, organizing information, reasoning with evidence, and systematic testing (Hancock & Osterweil, 1996). Players start with 16 Zoombinis, each with distinct physical characteristics: types of hair (ponytail, flat top, cap, etc.); eyes (glasses, one eye, sunglasses, etc.); noses of various colors; and different styles of feet (wheels, sneakers, propellers, etc.). While the features highlight each Zoombini’s charming individuality, they are also crucial for solving the puzzles, as many challenges require grouping or sorting the Zoombinis based on these characteristics (TERC, 2021).
Although the game can store multiple player profiles, "Zoombinis” is played as a solo game that adjusts the complexity of each puzzle as the player progresses. There are 12 different puzzle sets, each with four levels of difficulty: "Not So Easy," "Oh So Hard," "Very Hard," and "Very, Very Hard" (TERC, 2021 p.1). Notably, the puzzles intentionally offer players little information about how to solve the challenge at hand. There is a question mark icon for players who need more safety when taking on a challenge, but the information is brief and leaves a player with plenty of room for trial-and-error thinking. According to our textbook, a good goal offers players autonomy and freedom to tackle the problem with a variety of approaches (Kapp, 2012). Players are also offered a practice mode, for building skills in a particular challenge at a level of the player’s choosing (TERC, 2021). Each level increases the number of variables and the complexity of the logic required to solve the puzzles. For example, the initial difficulty might involve basic sorting or matching while higher levels might introduce more intricate sequences or more restrictive rules, requiring players to think multiple steps ahead and use more sophisticated problem-solving strategies. Kapp agrees with this approach to leveled progress which allows sustained gameplay (2012). At certain checkpoints throughout the game, the player must have a total of 16 Zoombinis to progress. If the player does not have the requisite number they must retrace their steps back to Zoombini Isle, put together a new cohort of 16 Zoombinis, and work through each puzzle again to meet the party of Zoombinis they left at the checkpoint rest area. The narrator reminds the player: “Yes, Zoombinis were left behind but the knowledge was gained!” (TERC, 2021, p.12).
Learning Materials
“Logical Journey of the Zoombinis” was created as an educational game, with co-designers Hancock and Osterweil stating “in effect we found the ‘game in the math’ rather than putting math in a game. And, almost by necessity, the math looks different from how it does in a classroom” (1996, p.5). Just the same, educational materials and content are available to extend the type of thinking encouraged in the game. Being able to map learning content to state and national standards is a critical part of curriculum infrastructure. If educators intend to incorporate this game into their teaching strategies, they will be delighted to learn Zoombinis aligns with Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice; Science Standards from NGSS Science & Engineering Practices; and CSTA Computer Science Standards, each in multiple strands. Additionally, TERC partnered with Fablevision Games which offers a classroom version of Zoombinis; this version includes classroom software management and reporting tools, as well as educational materials (TERC, 2022). Fablevision also offers “Zoombinis Club Activities,” suited for enrichment programs or after-school clubs (Fablevision Games, 2023). Activities are geared to indirect instruction and activity packs include lesson guides, Slides, and PDFs at a cost of $250/per site, per year. For parents and caregivers, the Educational Gaming Environments Group at TERC, called EdGE, produced a series of YouTube short videos, in a ’how-to’ support style (EdGE at TERC, 2014).
Gameplay Experience
I started playing Zoombinis August 19. Over the next 11 days, I played approximately three and a half hours over the course of six sessions. According to the gameplay banner, I’ve “done very well so far” and have gotten a collection of Zoombinis to Zoombiniville, "but many Zoombinis are still trapped on Zoombini Isle” (Zoombinis, 2015). The game introduces likable characters and uses clever animation and appealing graphics to advance the narrative and gameplay. The introductory video made the storyline clear from the outset, and picking up the general idea of gameplay was easy. I poked around in Practice Mode to learn a little about what to expect. Because I like to know what I’m doing, I also made full use of the hints available once I moved into the full game (rather than practice). I’m embarrassed to say I had a difficult time with the Titanic Tattooed Toads challenge; toads carry Zoombinis across a pond, but everyone can travel only on lily pads that match the tattoos on the toads’ backs. On my first go, I got four across, but had to leave without my other 12 Zoombinis, which was frustrating. On my second and third tries, I humbly resorted to using my index finger to trace likely paths across the pond, and that helped pattern matching. I also chose to go back and work on that puzzle in practice mode, which helped. Additionally, I read through the Zoombini tips (TERC, 2024b), and the Zoombinis Detailed Guide (TERC, 2021), which was great for details on individual puzzles. However, without an educator’s license, I did not have access to any of the paid curriculum or learning materials. Zoombinis is a fun game to play, and in no way feel like work to me. Learning was so seamlessly embedded into gameplay that I hadn’t even realized how much thinking was being done until I investigated some of the ancillary material. Having read the material, it should be noted there is good alignment between support materials and my experience of the game. Although the creators are transparent that discerning what’s required to pass a level is part of the learning experience, I still found it slightly frustrating. In my opinion, gameplay could be improved to assist with learning by allowing educators to toggle on more substantial just-in-time hints in the classroom version of the software, for learners whom that would benefit. As this is not currently an option (to my understanding), perhaps classroom teachers could create a plan to extend learning in their classrooms by having their students compile written Just-in-Time information, acting as a how-to series of encyclopedic entries. This technique would allow for differentiated instruction, giving those students with greater understanding more responsibility and introducing a written component to the game. It would allow those students with less understanding an opportunity for additional scaffolded support.
Principles of Learning
Gee’s 13 principles of game-based learning stipulate that effective learning can be benchmarked across three broad categories: empowered learning, problem based learning, and deep understanding (Gee, 2013). Zoombinis instantiates each of these categories to some degree, although today we’ll focus only on the principles of Co-design, Customization, Sequenced Problem Solving, and Systems Thinking.
Empowered Learners:
Empowered learners feel like what they do in the game, matters, and that they have power over the outcome of gameplay (Gee, 2013).
Well designed games allow the choices players make to directly impact both the game play and its outcomes (Gee, 2013). As players navigate the Zoombinis through various logic puzzles, they actively construct their understanding of the topic by experimenting with different strategies to solve the scenario. Creating Zoombinis with those characteristics, choosing this path, making these attempts at problem solving allows players to take ownership of their journey by making decisions that directly affect their progress and success. Additionally, the game's adaptive difficulty and leveled variety of challenges enable players to co-design their pathways in a choose-your-own-adventure style of gameplay, tailoring the experience to their needs and pacing.
Customization
Well-designed games allow players to customize their problem solving through varied methods of attack (Gee, 2013). Zoombinis gives players plenty of freedom to approach problem solving from a variety of angles (TERC, 2024b). Its minimalist approach forces players to parse out both the parameters of the challenge and its rules. Blind trial and error; making mistakes and looping back through for a second (or third or fourth try); reading the sparse on-screen hints; watching YouTube How-To strategy videos; and upgrading skills during Practice Mode sessions are all options to develop more effective gameplay strategy in whatever method feels most comfortable to a player, while allowing them to try on new methods of attack. Additionally, with four levels of difficulty, players are able to approach the game with the skills they have and build up from there, allowing for a level of difficulty tailored to their developing needs. These two examples demonstrate players are not only empowered to problem-solve, but also to develop an understanding of how to approach complex problems in a way that is most effective for them, reinforcing the value of customization.
Problem Based Learning
Games are interesting problem spaces. Players are given a problem and they get feedback. A game is an opportunity for good problem solving with a win state (Gee, 2013).
Using facts as tools to solve problems, good gameplay encourages building solutions that are predicated on earlier successes. With 12 puzzles each offering four levels of difficulty, Zoombinis does an excellent job of allowing learners to advance at their own pace, drawing new conclusions from earlier wins. With the Pizza Pass puzzle, for example, on the first level players need to make one troll a pizza with the toppings he secretly prefers. On the following level, players need to make pizzas with preferred toppings for two trolls, and an ice cream sundae— again with the correct ingredients— for each troll. Although much of it is implied or indirect, Zoombinis does give learners quite a bit of feedback during gameplay. In the Pizza Pass puzzle, the trolls offer indirect feedback, such as “there’s something on that I don’t like!” or “more toppings!” but it’s up to the player to deduce how to rectify the misstep and make a better, more accurate, pizza (Zoombinis, 2015). During the Titanic Tattooed Toads challenge, toads navigate across the lily pads and dance when a player gives it a path to the other side of the pond, but hop in a redundant path when a player doesn’t place the toad on a fruitful path. Through project based learning with a win-state, Zoombinis gives players interesting problems to solve, leveled to their regime of confidence, using feedback.
(Un)Pleasurable Frustration
Connecting my analysis and experience to the success of using the game for learning, I feel Zoombinis’ lack of clear and direct gameplay instruction can undermine the concept of "pleasurable frustration” (Gee, 2013), leaving players without sufficient guidance to understand the underlying rules of its puzzles. The game does offer a successive level of hints within the gameplay, asking learners “Want more?” multiple times (Zoombinis, 2015). Still, for certain types of learners this absence of direction can lead to confusion rather than productive challenge, as players may struggle to identify the logic required to progress. The game's ambiguity risks frustrating players in a way that is discouraging rather than engaging, which could detract from the motivational balance of difficulty and satisfaction that characterizes "pleasurable frustration” (Gee, 2013).
Deep Understanding
Gee reminds us learners need to understand how complex systems such as our government, the economy, and weather work (2013). Gameplay can help learners not only recognize that a problem exists, but also goes farther by building on that realization, helping players see how problems are related to and interact with each other. This process generates deep understanding.
Systems Thinking
Success in modern life requires an understanding of complex systems, their parts, and how the interplay between them changes outcomes. Zoombinis engages players in environments where the relationships between various elements needs to be both understood and manipulated to achieve success. Each puzzle requires players to identify patterns, hypothesize rules, and recognize interdependencies among the Zoombinis' features and the task at hand, which together impact the outcome (Zoombinis, 2015). In the Pizza Pass puzzle, players it’s not enough to know that Arno the troll doesn’t like pepperoni; players must hypothesize, test, and refine their understanding of the hidden rules governing Arno's preferences, recognizing how changes in one variable (such as adding mushrooms or removing cheese) affect the overall system of Arno's reactions. This iterative process encourages players to develop a holistic view of the puzzle, understanding how each element interacts within the system to achieve the desired outcome. Further, this need to analyze and adjust strategies based on feedback fosters systems thinking, as players learn to navigate and predict how variables interact within the framework of the game. By tinkering with these intricate systems, players develop a nuanced comprehension of cause-and-effect relationships, adaptive problem-solving skills, and the ability to generalize solutions across different contexts, which deepens their understanding of how complex systems operate, and how to address these systems to greatest impact.
REFERENCEs
EdGE at TERC. (2014, April 12). EdGE at TERC: YouTube Channel. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@edgeatterc1645/videos
Fablevision Games. (2023). Zoombinis—Club Activities. Fablevision Games. https://www.fablevisiongames.com/teacher-curriculum/zclub-curriculum
Gee, J. (2013, November 13). Jim Gee Principles on Gaming [Video recording]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk
Hancock, C., & Osterweil, S. (1996, Spring). Zoombinis and the Art of Mathematical Play. Hands On! https://atecentral.net/downloads/4954/zoombinis.pdf
Kapp, K. M. (2012). The gamification of learning and instruction: Game-based methods and strategies for training and education. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
TERC. (2021). Zoombinis Detailed Guide PDF. https://www.terc.edu/zoombinis/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2021/01/ZoombinisDetailedGuide.pdf
TERC. (2022). Zoombinis eBook. https://info.terc.edu/zoombinis-ebook
TERC. (2024). Zoombinis—About. Zoombinis. https://www.terc.edu/zoombinis/about/
TERC. (2024). Zoombinis—Tips. Zoombinis. https://www.terc.edu/zoombinis/extras/tips/
Toppo, G. (2015, August 6). How a beloved video game came back from the dead 20 years after its improbable birth. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/08/05/zoombinis-game-reboot/30615099/
Zoombinis (Version 2.0.6). (2015). [Mobile application software]. TERC, Inc. http://itunes.apple.com
No comments:
Post a Comment