Running Head: HEALTH HERO

Health Hero: A Video Game to Teach Healthy Habits

Lyn Ackerman, Billy Meinke, and Susan St John University of Hawaii Manoa ETEC 643

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Executive Summary Obesity among children is approaching epidemic proportions, as children become incr easingly sedentary, and empty calories fill their plates. This single-player, role playing video game is designed to reward players who can acquire the stars of healthy living--good nutritio n, regular activity, and a good nights sleep. As in real life, these elements must be acquired i n the right proportion. Players cooperate to pick up items, avoid or defend themselves against health enemies, and must help each other to complete the game adventure. This fantasy adventure game will impress children with the impact of small, everyday choices and the importance of avoiding everyday traps that undermine our good health. This informal learning game can be used at various events where there are children an d their parents learning about good health. The game can be played at pediatricians offices a nd also public events such as those held by the Hawaii Medical Service Association, the Healt hy Baby Contest, and themed events at the Childrens Discovery Center.

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Instructional Goal Players will learn about good health and the importance of nutrition, exercise, and slee p through various elements of game play. The game will focus on the five food groups and perhaps utilize the USDAs food pyra mid. Food groups include grains, fruits, vegetables, milk, and beans and meat. This informati on is retrieved from http://www.mypyramid.gov/kids/index.html Secondly, the game will emphasize the importance of exercising at least 60 minutes a day. Activity should be aerobic (walking and running), muscle strengthening (gymnastics and push ups), and bone strengthening (jumping rope and running). The information was retrieve d from http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/children.html. Thirdly, the game will emphasize the importance of sleep. Sleep is essential to a chil ds health and growth. It promotes alertness, memory and performance. Children who get eno ugh sleep are more likely to function better and are less prone to behavioral problems, moodin ess, and obesity. Children ages 5 to 11 years of age should get 10 hours of sleep. This inform ation was retrieved from http://www.sleepforkids.org/html/sheet.html. Description of Target Population The game targets children in grades 3 through five, most of who are in the age range of 8 to 11 years old. Children in this population have learned eating habits that may or may not help them in this game. Certain children will find the game more challenging and the healthier eating choices harder to identify, but will be able to carry learned eating habits as they progress through the game. Children in this population thrive on structure, which they will find in Health Hero, but will also find negative consequences for their character if they make poor choices in the game. Taking into account the social characteristics of the

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population, Health Hero can be won by any child who plays the game, which will build confidence in all children who play it. Enemies, locations, and challenges are age-appropriate so children will feel safe in the gameplay environment. Performance Objectives Given a [C] multi-player role playing video game on healthy living, [A] children in gra des 4-5, [B] will go through a weekend day by [D] accumulating a minimum of 90 game point s that demonstrate choices that promote healthy living in the areas of eating, exercise, and slee p. Instructional Strategy Gagne (2004) proposed nine events of instructional design. The following discussion describes how the designers of Health Hero incorporated Gagnes principles. Gain and Maintain Attention The storyline immediately presents a problem (your hometown has been captured) whi ch arouses the learners curiosity. In addition, the life sappers are aggressive and learners are motivated to avoid them. Stimulate recall The game utilizes the USDAs food pyramid and healthy standards for exercise and sle ep, which children would have learned in P.E. and health classes. The game play integrates th is prior knowledge. Inform the Learners of the Objectives Learners are given the rules of the game through a short tutorial. The rules are: avoid the life sappers, earn healthy stars through eating well, getting exercise and sleep, and complet e challenges and finish the game with the players energy meter in the green.

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Present the Stimulus Choices are presented to the player throughout the game. Provide Learner Guidance Clues and hints are also given through dialog and through visual presentation of charac ters. Levels of game play helps the learner grow in understanding. Elicit Performance (Practice) The role playing allows the learner to apply the theory of healthy living to action. Provide Learner Feedback Feedback is given to the learner through the character dialog and through the energy m eter and healthy stars. Assess Performance A high score indicates that the learner has achieved the objectives of the game. Enhance Retention and Transfer The game can be repeated many times with different results. As the players can custo mize their avatar and location, they are invited to connect their real persona with the imagined protagonist. At the conclusion of play, the game encourages learners to extend the dramatic r ole playing into their real lives. It asks: Are the life sappers lurking in ______(your hometo wn)? Game Mechanics/Gameplay Events and How the Player Changes Health Hero game play takes place over the course of a series of 24-hour periods. In e ach day of game play, time is accelerated so that players are able to the see the effects of the ir healthy choices. One second is equivalent to one minute, so an entire 24-hour period can be

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completed in approximately half an hour, but will vary based on the number of challenges the players attempts as well as the amount of sleep they give their avatars. As the player moves through the daytime period, they are given opportunities to partici pate in exercise-based challenges and make snack or meal choices that will affect their energy level. Messages from parents and friends will appear on-screen that give players opportunitie s to take part in these challenges, most of which will involve the life-sapping enemy character s. Players must balance exercise activities with healthy eating choices to ensure that their en ergy level stays up and they are able to successfully take on challenges. Players begin with a baseline level of energy points that will allow them to participate in one challenge. A meter on the t-shirt of the avatar displays a simple scale (1-10) of the play ers energy level. As the players moves through the game and completes challenges, the mete r will change as a result of good and bad eating choices as well as energy spent to complete ch allenges. As the player eats junk food and/or chooses too many indoor activities, his energy meter will progressively turn red. The players energy meter will turn green as s/he participat es in exercise-based challenges, actively showing that the player is prepared to attempt new ch allenges. Points System for Players If a player attempts to play an exercise challenge but his/her energy level is too low (to o little sleep, too much junk food), s/he will usually not be able to win the challenge. When a players energy level is high enough and s/he is able complete challenges, s/he then is rewarde d with healthy stars. These healthy stars will earn the player accessories that will help him c omplete challenges more easily (see objects, below).

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Stars are also necessary for players to gain access to special challenges beyond the intr oductory levels. The player can see these upper-level challenges, but gameplay is locked un til the player has earned enough stars. This will motivate the player to eat healthily and compl ete lower-level challenges well to earn the higher-level challenges. Levels of Gameplay Players complete challenges and earn stars through each day of game play, allowing th em to progress and take on more difficult challenges in the game. For instance, the lower lev el games will include basketball or soccer challenges while the upper-level challenges will inc lude skateboarding or surfing. Upper-level challenges will take advantage of the dexterity and knowledge gained from completing earlier challenges and combine them to make a more diffi cult challenge for the player. Challenges become more difficult and the player will eventually need to beat the main boss, No-Waist, at the end of the game. To be able to play the final chal lenge against No-Waist, the player must have completed all of the lower and upper-level chall enges in the game and have very high healthy stars. This final challenge will combine skills a nd knowledge learned throughout the game, making it nearly impossible to beat without havin g played the game through before attempting it.

Artificial Intelligence or Equivalent Sections of your Digital Interactive Learning Gam e Idea The game is a 3D sandbox-style action-adventure game in which the player is able to f reely move through a preformated city map environment similar to that found in the Grand Th eft Auto video game series. Players begin in their home and are able to move around the city by foot, on bicycle, or through help of parent-driven vehicles. There are active vehicles and ot

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her strangers (people) in the map, but the player can only interact with a predetermined set of t hem (see characters above). Strange people not involved in the daily life have limited interact ion with the player and do not require a dynamic AI. There is a live map (similar to radar) in the lower left-hand corner that shows the playe rs location as well as the location of challenges that the avatar can take part in. The player ca n navigate the avatar to these locations, where the avatar enters an activity room. In this, th e player will no longer interact with the larger map and can only move and interact inside the activity room. For example, the player may play a game of Crogball against a soda-drinking enemy Cola Kid in the Soda Swamp. As the player successfully scores against the Cola Ki d, the enemy is worn out and the player scores points for having exercised. At the end of this challenge, the player is rewarded and able to move back into the larger game map. As mentioned in the Levels of Gameplay section, certain challenges on the map are loc ked until the player has earned enough stars. The player can see these areas on the map but re ceive a message saying, This area is reserved for super stars only! Go collect more stars and come back to play. Players will be inspired to earn more stars and return to complete these c hallenges, which will be unlocked when they have the proper level of stars. Story Overview Our hero (or heroine) is awakened by his loud bedside alarm. Its Saturday--no schoo l, and hes ready to have a day of healthy food and exercise. Or is he? His hometown has bee n captured by the malevolent League of Life Sappers who will stop at nothing to drain his life energy force. They are everywhere and they are tricky--they will try to convince our hero that he really wants to eat junk food and lie around on the couch, thereby weakening his immune s ystem and making him susceptible to evil cold germs.

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Our hero proceeds cautiously out of his home into the city. His mission: to find and p ick up healthy foods and to get exercise, which will earn him healthy stars. Occasionally he re ceives messages which offer helpful hints and may lead him to certain challenges. Our hero al so finds and expertly picks up weapons that can aid him in battle. Our hero must, at all costs, avoid the Life Sappers and the traps they lay. Our hero wan ders into a restaurant, missing the clues that this is one of the Life Sappers traps. When he re alizes that he has entered the Palace of Junk Food, it is too late. He must do battle with Fried Frank E. Furter and navigate through the Pepperoni Minefield before he can escape. Whenever our hero battles a Life Sapper, he checks his energy meter. He must keep hi s energy life in the green zone, and continue to seek out the life-giving forces of healthy food and exercise and sleep. He works to find these stars of healthy living, and free their hometow n from the Life Sappers. The protagonist must have earned a minimum number of healthy sta rs in order to challenge No-Waist, the boss of the Life Sappers. Game Elements Rouse (2005) states important game elements to be considered in game design. The following describes its implementation in Health Hero. Enemy Characters: The League of Life Sappers
Video Game Head This enemy has spent countless hours indoors exercising nothing bu

t his fingertips. He may talk a big game, but will quickly be worn out if challenged to a real game!
Sloth Bump in the Road This enemy is quite the bully. Challenges played against him

will require you to weave your way around him to avoid being tripped!

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Girl Scout with Cookies This enemy will offer you cookies or other treats, but beware:

she may trick you into eating the whole tray!

Giant Spam Musubi This enemy will lure you in with his tasty teriyaki flavor, but will

slow you down if you indulge too often!

Germy Jerry This enemy can be found wandering around all areas of the game and will

sap your healthy stars very quickly if he touches you. Better make sure youve eaten a ll your vegetables!
Exploding Chocolate Cake This enemy will tempt you with its chocolaty flavor, but ma

y explode if you take too many bites! You health meter will surely suffer if you are in range of the chocolate explosion.
Fried Frank E. Furter - This enemy will tempt you with fried snacks, but will slow down

your quest to complete all of the challenges.

Cola Kid This enemy has very high energy for short periods of time, but will quickly ti

re out when challenged in exercise activities. Can you outlast her?

No-Waist This enemy is the final boss. He has loaded himself with all unhealthy snack

s found in the game and will seem impossible to beat. Hang in long enough and your healthy eating will outlast his sugary energy! Challenge Locations
Soda Swamp This is the home of the Cola Kid. Make sure you have enough health to

outlast the enemy in this sugary challenge!

Pepperoni Minefield Avoid the pepperoni mines to make it through this challenge locat

ion! Exploding a few pepperonis wont lose the challenge for you, but too many and y oull never make it out of the minefield.

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Bottomless Snack Bowl This place is one you want to steer clear of! You cant ever ea

t just one of the snacks found when you talk to the Bottomless Snack Bowl. Watch yo ur health meter when navigating through this location. Items Basic Items.
Cereals, Breads, Starches Fruits and Vegetables Milk, Cheese, and Yogurt Meat, Fish, and Alternatives Others

Special Items.
Elixir with Essence of Carrot - This elixir will help you see mines in the Pepperoni Mine

field easier and get you through the challenge quicker.

Magic H20 Potion This potion can be found near each challenge and will help you mai

ntain energy through each challenge.

Celery sword This special sword will help you defeat enemies in challenges involving f

ood-fights. Destroy sugary snacks being thrown at you!

Citrus bombs These bombs will help you defeat enemies that are trying to trip you up d

uring challenges. Enemies will avoid them at all costs, so throw them to ward off you r foes!
Milk of Cow Kindness This special drink will help you recharge your health meter whi

le you sleep, building strong bones and muscles.

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Multivitamin Shield This shield will protect you from Germy Jerry if he tries to infect

you. Vitamins help save your health points from this dangerous foe!
Good Nights Sleep Cloak - This cloak will enhance your healthy stars recharging durin

g sleep so that you awake ready for the next day.

Lighter than Air Shoes These shoes will help you move through the game quickly and

complete racing challenges easily!

Objects and Mechanisms

Energy meter Healthy stars

Meeting Game Elements Emotional Experience and Storytelling The player can personalize the game by by naming the avatar and naming the hometo wn. In this way, the player is drawn into the drama of the story; she is attached to the survival of the protagonist. Immersion and Fantasy The aggressive life sappers demands action from the protagonist, and the player must quickly learn the rules of this fantasy world in order to succeed. The special items gives the pl ayer skills that are exciting, much like the gadgets in a James Bond movie. Input

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The controls for Health Hero are simple: players can control their avatar with the up-d own, forward-backward keys. The target age group will generally find the controls easy to lea rn, so that they can get quickly immersed in the game. Output The energy meter and healthy stars give constant and immediate feedback so that the p layer can quickly see the results of any action she takes. The visual representation of the ene my characters easily distinguishes them from helpful characters and items. In addition, there a re audio elements--the soundtrack, the tone of the characters voices-- that provides cues and h elps the player comprehend the action of the game. Unique solutions and Non-linearity The diversity of life sappers and the variety of items and ways in which the player can beat the sappers, allows the player to author a unique storyline whenever she plays. The large number of combinations of challenges, enemy characters and items keeps the game non-linea r, and adds the possibility of branching stories. Accomplish Task Incrementally and Some Setbacks There are many micro-challenges that the player accomplishes before the final challen ge of beating No-Waist. A single wrong choice may lower the players energy meter, but will not end the game. In this way, the player has opportunities to learn the principles of the game, to remedy any poor choices, and to build their skills. As the player progresses, she will need to be able to make more subtle distinctions bet ween foods. For example, while most children know that a piece of watermelon is better for t hem than candy, do they know if it better than a slice of apple? As the player moves through t he game, they are likely to experience some setbacks.

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Not to Get Hopelessly Stuck and Fair Chance There are levels of game play, and challenges are locked until the player has earned en ough stars. In this way, whenever a player engages in a challenge, they have the skills or item s necessary to win the challenge. Do, Not Watch There are minimal cut scenes in this game. The information, or principles of good hea lth, is conveyed through the animation of the food characters, dialogue, and action of the gam e.

Consistent World, Modelling Reality This game heightens the consequences of making healthy or poor health choices, and i n this way diverges from reality. However, the consistency in game play is based in real worl d principles of good health. For example, eating healthy food will usually result in some rewa rd in this game, unless the player is overeating. Learning the principles of good health is syno nymous with understanding what actions the player needs to perform in this world to win the game. Bragging Rights and Challenge As mentioned in the example above, learning to eat well is not necessarily a simple ma tter. It is possible to overeat and lose healthy stars even when eating healthy food. If a player can progress through the game and onto higher levels, she has gained some complex knowled ge and skill from the game, and this gives her bragging rights. Game Evaluation

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Gee (2005) discusses the game phenomenon in learning by offering thirteen design pri nciples that contribute to capturing the interest and attention of learners. He poses and answer s the question, How do game designers get players to learn long and complex game systems and repeatedly play them over time? He categorizes the thirteen principles under three headi ngs which the designers used to create the game concept under discussion. The three categori es are 1) Empowered Learners, 2) Problem Solving, and 3) Understanding. The following is a description of how Gees principles are demonstrated in the game Health Hero. The first category, Empowered Learners, states that learners need to be active producer s of their learning, not just passive consumers. The designers of Health Hero provide opportu nities for the players to co-design actions, customize the game play, identity with the characte r, and perceive themselves in a new dimension of time and space. In Health Hero, the protago nist makes decisions which lead to consequences. The players actions lead to what does or d oes not happen next. Players can customize the game play by selecting choices that offer alternative styles o f learning and playing. Players can move to other realms or choose to remain on one level. Players can choose to battle No Waist or deny the Cola Kid. Player choices can lead to the So da Swamp or the Bottomless Snack Bowl. Players also take on a new identity in the game that enables them to make choices in their journey through the game. Do they eat the tray of cookies or choose an apple? If they repeatedly choose the tray of cookies, the gameplay will slow and eventually the player will lose. Making positive choices throughout the game will keep the player earning stars and gaining access to new and exciting challenges. Making poor choices will shorten the overall length of the game and the player will have to start over again.

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Players can move easily between levels and into other realms of food challenges and a dventures. Players can manipulate objects (ex. Celery Sword, Citrus Bomb, and Multivitamin Shield) that can help them achieve finals goals. A clerk in a store offers soda or water and the player practices making a choice in the game world perhaps before s/he makes the choice in th e real world. The second category, Problem Solving, states that game problems are designed so that players are led to solve easier problems early in the game and more difficult problems later o n. The problems are well-ordered, pleasantly frustrating, and require repeated cycles of expert ise. Players are given information as they need it, in a simplified system (fish tank), within a s afe environment (sandbox) for learners to practice skills as strategies. The game elements dis cussed previously address Gees Problem Solving principles. The game is designed to offer pl ayers unique solutions that demonstrate non-linearity. Tasks can be accomplished incremental ly with some possible setbacks. Players work not to get hopelessly stuck. Players are present ed with problems modeling in-world consistency. There many opportunities to practice maki ng choices within the game world. Players practice skills to achieve the end goal and in the pr ocess learn about healthy choices. Each choice presents the player with yet another choice re sulting in an increase or decrease in healthy stars and the energy meter. Drinking the Milk of Cow Kindness and getting adequate rest with the Good Night Shield Cloak offer ways to rech arge players health meter. Gees third category, Understanding, states that the game needs to be designed in such a way that players find meaning in how skills, strategies, and ideas fit into the whole. In Heat h Hero, players learn the rules of the game as they meet each challenge. They learn what wor ks and what doesnt work in-world. Players have experiences with enemy characters such as

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Fried Frank E. Furter and the Exploding Chocolate Cake. Too much of either results in health stars denied and a decrease in the energy meter. The designers of Health Hero incorporated principles by Gagne, Rouse, Gee which were deemed important for informal learning and gameplay in the hopes that the target audience will make healthy choices in their own lives.

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References Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011, March 30). Physical activity for everyone. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/children.html Gagne, R. M., Wager, W. W., Golas, K., & Keller, J. M. (2004). Principles of Instructional Design (5th ed.). Wadsworth Publishing. Gee, J.P. (2009). Games, learning, & 21st century survival skills. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. 2(1), 4-9. Gee, J.P. (2005). Learning by design: good video games as learning machines. E-Learning. 2(1), 5-15. National Sleep Foundation (2011). Information about childrens sleep for parents and children. Retrieved from http://www.sleepforkids.org/html/sheet.html Rouse, Richard (2005). Game design: theory and practice. (2nd edition). Plano, Texas: Wordware. United States Department of Agriculture (2011, February 9). For kids. Retrieved from http://www.mypyramid.gov/kids/index.html