Field Work: Experience the Life of a Paleontologist

Project Type: Serious Game Design & Development (WebGL)

Media: Unity, C#, Adobe Illustrator

Final Presentation Format: PC Desktop game

Team members & Roles:

• Technical Director: Mikaela Muersch

• Art Director & UI Developer: Ben Colvin

• Game Designer & Asset Developer: Nicole Barocas

This desktop game focuses on teaching young children the workflow of a paleontologist and how homology is used to determine fossil reconstruction. As the learning goal (game) designer and co-asset developer, I ensured that game play worked in tandem with what our team aimed teach and that the game mechanics enhanced learning rather than distracting from it. In this desktop experience, users can choose dig locations to uncover bones, “dig” for bones by tapping patches of rock/dirt, use generalized structures to align the bones into their proper orientation, and compare the homology of their bones with extant species through a comparison question.