On Social Cipher’s platform, we offer a series of different educational video games for players to enjoy. That means there are multiple games, and some have different types of gameplay!
These games are designed to be played in any order, but feature the same cast of characters, so you can decide which game to have your player(s) play first based on what SEL skill you want them to focus on.
You can learn more about the game’s cast of characters in "Who are the Characters in the Game?".
💡If you’re not sure where to start, try out the ‘Trust’ module. It introduces Ava’s crew members and provides a good example of gameplay.
In most of our games, the player spends a lot of time platforming. This is a game term which means controlling the movement of the titular character, Ava, in her two-dimensional environment. The name comes from the idea of hopping from ‘platform’ to ‘platform’ in the game. This movement allows the player to explore, interact with the world, and progress the story— it’s a lot like the popular video game ‘Mario.’
Then, when Ava talks with a character, we switch into a dialogue segment. This is where a lot of the SEL instruction happens. In these parts of the game, the player is not just reading and listening to the conversation between Ava and the other character(s), but also choosing how Ava responds. When it’s time for a player to make a choice, they will be presented with up to four dialogue options.
Additionally, before and after a quest, the players will receive a pre and post assessment question. This question is aimed directly at the player for them to answer as themselves, not Ava. These questions have to do with the SEL competency focused on in the quest. For the pre-assessment, questions are phrased to focus on the player’s current habits. For the post-assessment, questions ask about what a player might do in the future.
Sometimes, Ava also does crafting. This is a game term that means playing the game by building things. We give the players tools to place different objects in the world environment, which Ava can then interact with (and even platform on!). It is similar to the popular game ‘Minecraft’ or using building blocks.
Here are the types of games in our series:
- Our narrative modules (’Trust,’ ‘Needs,’ and ‘Trying New Things’) all focus on platforming gameplay. They are story heavy games that take one to two hours to play, depending on the player’s skill level at platforming. They are broken down into smaller quests, which take roughly fifteen minutes to complete. ‘Needs’ also includes crafting gameplay.
- ‘Trust’ has a beginning tutorial and three quests
- ‘Trying New Things’ has two quests
- ‘Needs’ has one quest, with more quests planned in the future
- World Builder is a game ALL about the crafting. Players are able to make up to sixteen saved worlds in different save slots. Each world is an open space, like a sandbox, where they can build whatever they want. Ava can platform on, and interact with, the creations the player has built.
- Character Creator allows the player to make their own space pirate character with custom features. The player can choose things like the character’s hair, skin tone, body type, eyes, nose, mouth, and clothes. They can use this pirate to represent themselves in the player profile. There is no platforming or moving the Ava character in this game.