Race & Ace: Arcade-to-Mobile Game Prototype
Developed Race & Ace, an educational arcade game designed to support children with ADHD. The project began as a cardboard prototype for a 5-year-old persona, Eddie, emphasizing hands-on engagement with vibrant visuals and simple mechanics. It then evolved into a mobile game tailored for a 3rd/4th-grade persona, Eddie, blending entertainment with learning to foster social interaction and cognitive development through car-themed gameplay.
Client:
Target persona: Eddie, child with ADHD
Year:
Fall 2024
Problem:
This project required designing an educational and engaging game prototype for a child persona with ADHD, Eddie, to promote attention, learning, and socialization. The primary challenges included sustaining Eddie’s focus with intuitive gameplay, incorporating positive reinforcement like visuals and sound effects, and transitioning the game mechanics from a physical prototype to a digital mobile format.
Approach:
The project involved two stages of development:
Cardboard Prototype Development (Team Project):
Collaborated with two classmates to design and build a butterfly-shaped rainbow track with colored sections.
Integrated educational prompts tied to colors, numbers, and letters.
Began with a smaller paper prototype to refine mechanics and gameplay before constructing the cardboard version.
Mobile Game Prototype Development (Individual Project):
Transitioned the game concept to a digital format by sketching initial ideas for a racing app.
Created an interactive prototype in Figma, utilizing advanced features like component instances and variant components.
Iteratively refined the design to prioritize usability and engagement while expanding the educational prompts to include math, animals, science, geography, and pop culture.
Outcome:
The final solution built upon insights from both prototypes to create a cohesive game experience:
The cardboard prototype featured a butterfly-shaped track with rainbow-colored sections and educational prompts, designed as a collaborative effort to encourage learning and interaction.
The mobile game prototype, developed individually, retained the rainbow-themed track and expanded the educational content, while introducing intuitive gameplay mechanics and positive feedback through visuals and sound effects.
This project highlights my ability to collaborate effectively in a team, work independently to refine and enhance ideas, and design engaging educational games that transition seamlessly from physical to digital formats.
