Library ARG using Social Media sites

I just read a really good article from the University of Alabama on how they used social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs to create an alternate reality game that would require players to use the library resources. The citation is:

Battles, J., Glenn, V., & Shedd, L. (2011). Rethinking the library game: Creating an alternate reality with social media. Journal of Web Librarianship, 5(2), 114-131.

These people really did their research before designing their game and their assessment felt honest (a few articles I have read included more enthusiasm by the authors than the project seemed to merit). I hope they continue to do such projects. It sounds fascinating and I'm glad they shared their experiences with us.

Online Games

I'm working my way slowly through Casual Game Design by Gregory Trefry. I'm a big fan of Trefry after listening to his presentation at ALA Techsource on Big Games in libraries. I'm about halfway through and so far, this is a fantastic book. I'm really interested in literature that focuses specifically on casual games, and I'm not finding much in the scholarly databases. But I think these will be the most successful types of online games in libraries when ones like Michigan's and Arizona's aren't successful.

One of the most useful (and distracting!) pieces of this book are the example games that are mentioned briefly or discussed in-depth. I wanted to share the online ones, some of which I have been sampling. Some are easily available without signing up or downloading anything, but many require you to download a trial version. I will include a brief note on why it was mentioned in the book.

• Peggle- plays Bethoven's 9th Symphony at the end of each level with stars and rainbows and glitter, gives the player a feeling of accomplishment


• Bloons- fun game on computer, but doesn't translate well to mobile phones as player must use finger, which blocks view


• Plants vs. Zombies- they made the zombies almost as cute as the plants to keep the game light (I'm totally addicted to this one, it's a nice balance of strategy and action)


• 4 minutes and 33 seconds of Uniqueness- an art game where the point of the game is to just be the only person in the world playing it for that long


• Cooking Mama and Snapshot Adventures- turning everyday activities into a game


• Mystery Case Files- Huntsville - I don't remember why this was mentioned, but I enjoyed it and it has potential for a new library game


• Solitaire- first casual computer game, most widely played casual game, example of a sorting game


• What to Wear- a Facebook game that uses opinions of many players for score


• Snood, and Luxor- Matching/sorting games


• Memory- object game


• Bejeweled- object/matching game, very simple but fun


• Tetris- object game, sorting game


• Diner Dash- little role-playing (in comparison to Dungeons and Dragons, which is lots of role-playing


• Azada- lots of mini-games, different types of puzzles, has created a developed world with beautiful graphics and story


• Lego Fever- he talks about being involved in its development and how not having enough rules doesn't work


• PuzzleQuest- matching and role-playing


• Drop 7, Scrabble, Bookworm, Wurdle- sorting games

Two local game conferences coming up

I'm diving back into work after three wonderful weeks of, spent with my parents in Georgia, and 8 days in Paris/French Riviera with my former host family.

A post from Scott Nicholson on the ILI listserv is asking for proposals for the NASAGA annual conference, which is to be held in Valley Forge, PA, only 3 hours from here. I definitely plan to submit a proposal and am considering paying for at least one day myself. This looks like it's so focused on my interests, it would be so nice to meet some of the people attending.

The NASAGA (free to join, just did) Web site also pointed me to another local game conference, this one is next week in Harrisburg. That organization is called LEEF. They have an option to pay just $50 for the Friday afternoon teaser, which is tempting.

I've got lots of other things I should be doing, but I started working on a new game for our college's bicentennial and I really want to get back to that. And reading. It has been such a busy academic year I'm eager to get back to the fun stuff this summer!

Games books

I'm finding some games books that look not only interesting, but very practical. I haven't read any of these yet, but hope to do a lot of work on games later this summer (after my vacation!). The titles are:

• Game On: Energize your Business with Social Media Games


• Games-Based Marketing


• The Gamification Handbook


• Game Frame: Using Games as a Strategy for Success


• Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World


• Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete

Haunted House Games

I decided to look for some Haunted House games after looking at Hidden Spirits on the History Channel's page. It made me think this genre might be good for a game on the spaces within the library (we recently had students do a video on this) or for the campus history archives game. Here are two of the good ones I found:

Haunted House game sponsored by K-Mart
Haunt the House

New Educational Games

I have found some new online games that have inspiration potential. I am currently looking for some ideas (online and real-world) for an archives game for our Scholar's Program during the college's bicentennial celebration next year. The goal is to use college history and archival materials (esp. pictures) to create a fun game.

The first I found is a state puzzle game called Place the State, where there are three modes of playing. In the beginner model, it's a puzzle where the player must drag the states into their correct location on a silhouette map of the US and once a state is placed it sticks. In the intermediate mode, the placed states disappear. In the advanced mode, the states disappear AND you have to name the capital of the state. Everything is timed. I'm thinking this could be adapted to college history where we give students an old map of the campus and they have to place buildings that don't exist anymore, and maybe answer a question about them.

The second game is called State that Plate. The player has a tray of state names and then license plates appear on a conveyor belt and you have to drag the state name to the right plate before it runs off the screen. You have up to 10 misses to get points. We could have archival pictures scroll by and students have to match a label or name to the picture.

Still alive

I have great intentions for getting back to this blog soon. My almost-nine-month-old is keeping me busy, as is being down a librarian at work. I have so much gaming material to post from ACRL, which has given me a boost of creative energy and excitement about games, though I wish I could also get some time to process what I learned and try out some new ideas as well. I can't complain, the baby is wonderful and I still love my job. I just saw this post from the Swiss Army Librarian about gamifying overdue fines, just as Sweden is starting to gamify speed limits. I like the idea of turning something as dull as overdue fines or speed limits into a simple game. I think a lot of insurance companies are doing this for good drivers and while it's not game-like fun, I still enjoy my $50 check each year. One other thing I've been thinking about as a new mom... I'm looking forward to becoming more familiar with children's games as Patrick gets older. It will be great to start out with the really simple games and see if they can be applied to library instruction. He's already into at least one game, but I haven't yet figured out how to use peek-a-boo in the classroom. I just don't think 18-22-year-olds will think it is near as hysterical as a baby does. And just because I have mentioned Patrick, and because it's my first post since he has been born, here's a totally gratuitous picture. I have no intention of turning this into a mommy blog, but reserve the right to mention him as it does relate to games.