News

Tuesday 10 October 2006

Quest for vital life skills

A new computer game which aims to teach vital life skills to young people has been developed at Nottingham Trent University. The adventure game, in which the player has to form a crew and escape from a volcanic island, is intended to engage young people who need to improve their personal development skills to increase their chance of finding a job.

Quest, which has been developed for the PC, looks like any ordinary game with excellent graphics and playability. However, as gamers progress through the levels they encounter various challenges, each intended to aid their personal development in different ways.

The game – due to be launched this month at GameCity* – has been created by the Interactive Systems Research Group, part of Nottingham Trent University’s School of Computing and Informatics working with South Nottingham College, Nottinghamshire County Council’s Acorn Initiative and Access Training East Midlands Ltd, who have provided the educational input. The consortium is managed and funded by the Nottingham Learning and Skills Council.

In order to succeed the player needs to learn the developmental skills required to manage a group of people and form a team possessing the skills needed to escape the island. They have to build a character’s self-esteem, teach another how to manage their aggression, learn how to develop realistic goals, respond to problems and stress, and manage peer pressure.

In the second part of the game, players have to successfully complete a set of challenges designed to enhance their work sustainability skills, including questions on rights and responsibilities at work. Scores are monitored as the players progress through the game so it is easy to spot where they have done well and not so well.

Quest was originally aimed at 15-19-year-olds, with a profile of disengagement or disaffection, but extensive testing has shown it to appeal to a much wider, 14 – 25 year old cohort, with relevance to a wide range of organisations such as secondary schools (PSHE curriculum, work experience), Pupil Referral Units, Youth Service Teams, Young Offender Institutions, etc.

The Director of the Interactive Research Systems Group, Dr David Brown, said: “Socially excluded youngsters have been involved in the design and testing of the game and feedback has been very encouraging from a learning and engagement point of view. It aims to improve both personal development and work sustainability skills in young people at risk of social exclusion.”

He added: “In one part of the game the player needs to build up the self-esteem of a character who feels they are a failed navigator. In another they need to teach someone to manage their aggression and put their strength to better use. They also need to step in to prevent someone being bullied in order to complete a level. It is hoped youngsters will take these skills with them into the wider world.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

*Nottingham Trent University is a lead partner in GameCity, an independent, annual festival of video games and interactive entertainment, which will take place in Nottingham between the 25 and 29 October. The festival includes a two day conference, called "Hand To Eye" which  will explore what we learn when we play computer games, alongside video games screenings, workshops, a digital art exhibition, live performances, film premieres and the unveiling of unreleased games titles.

Quest will be available for public viewing at the GameCity Laboratory Showcase event on Friday 27 October in the "View from The Top" gallery above Waterstone's in Nottingham.

For more information please contact:

Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 2650 or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk.

Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 6589 or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.