The meal is finally finished! Today was presentation day and in the end we received the golden pineapple for the game with the best educational outcome - yeah!
Cheers,
After completing the basic game concept it was high-time to analyze possible weaknesses of our game. To improve it even more we gave a foretaste to a member of our target group.
Iteration is essential. Therefore we checked allergenie several times for potential flaws. The Player enjoyment evaluation matrix helped us to examine every aspect of the game. First of all, 4 Gänge // Studio took a closer look at allergenie themselves. Afterwards, we swapped a group member with another team. We explained him our concept and received feedback including some nice ideas. Finally, we asked someone who fits in our target group. “Gladly” Michaels 20 year old neighbor Tanja suffers from gluten intolerance and is therefore an ideal representative of our target audience. Together we went over the evaluation matrix and asked her for her thoughts and suggestions. According to the matrix - which can be found on the next pages in detail - she gave allergenie on average four out of five points (we were a bit proud, to be honest).
During this process we found some issues and also received some helpful suggestions:
One aspect that was criticized was that the goals of the game and the individual sections are not clearly presented. Therefore we added an “welcome page” which is now shown at the first start of the application. It can also be accessed in the help section anytime. Apart from that, we also included information on the task of the following level while loading it.
Apart from that, they also suggested us support our players after they “died” within a level. Thus we decided on decreasing the degree of difficulty when repeating a level. So future allergenies will not get frustrated so quickly while gaming.
There were also some other proposals which we did not implement out of various reasons. For example, adding some sound when starting the game, using our world as a possible way to die (eg. by slipping or falling) or increasing collaboration between players.
4 Gänge // Studio is currently extremely busy with allergenie. Every department is working hard on every detail of the game. From artwork, technical stuff to marketing and the preparations for the final presentation. So much that you would just skip reading this blog article - thus you get a picture of Alice - one of our character - being surprised by a pack of milk.
Nevertheless stay curious for our final booklet - it will be delicious. We promise!
Enjoy you meal,
The place where allergenie happens!
Your allergenie has to run through different sections of a supermarket where he has to avoid food he can not stomach. Here you are served one small preview on how this supermarket looks like - huge probs to our awesome visual artists Daniel and Anna. They managed to create a market that looks way better than our Lidl next to university <3
Dinner will be ready soon,
During the development of allergenie also the issue on how we can make our game gender-neutral came across. So we thought about how we can make our game appealing for both males and females.
Well, since the topic allergenie is dealing with concerns everyone, we believe that the game will suite both genders. Allergenie therefore tries to create a humorous, well designed a fun gameplay including an educational aspect. But we do not force our players to learn the facts by hard – they can choose themselves how much they want to learn.
To emphasize the gender neutrality we will serve a male and female version of our character - as you already saw in the preview last time. So you can choose in the beginning whether you´d like to become an allergenious by controlling a girl or a boy.
During this process we also received our first feedback from our colleagues. Beside some small remarks concerning the screens and the gameplay they thought that the game will indeed fit for both genders and they also claimed that suits our targeted group perfectly. Apart from that they admired our visual appearance - which will be offered on this blog step by step in the upcoming weeks. (However, probs to our excellent graphic-chefs Anna and Daniel <3 )
Enjoy your meal,
Today we serve you the first preview of our super delicious characters. In the meantime we work hard on the gameflow and the screendesign of allergenie - more on this will be offered in the upcomming weeks.
Enjoy your Meal,
Quite often less is more and for everyone who does not want to read all those blog posting we summarized allergenie in a few sentences:
What is allergenie?
A educational jump n run game that raises awareness on allergens. The game is aiming at people who suffer from food intolerances and people who are interested in that subject.
How do I play allergenie?
You have to guide your character through a supermarket where he encounters various products. Thus you have to decide whether the character can stomach certain items or not.
Whats makes allergenie unique?
Allergenie is the first game to place this serious issue into a fun and modern setting. So you can learn which products contain which allergens without having to learn all the allergens by hard.
However, now you know what you will be served in a few months.
Well, as we already told you our game allergenie will be a practical guide to raise awareness on allergens and getting to know which products can contain which allergens. So it can be really useful for your everyday life. In order to spice the learning outcomes of allergenie, we asked ourselves some important questions:
#1 How will allergenie help you learning?
The essence of allergenie is the fact that hard facts are packed in a fun environment with at tasty visual appearance. (and we promise you, it will be really delicious!)
Apart from that, you get to know the products and what they contain and not the other way round. So you do not need to learn where certain allergens can be included but the products and their possible contents. This leads towards a more practical and useful knowledge for our gamers.
#2 How does allergenie communicate learning issues and objectives?
During the game you can notice physical changes of our character. If he eats something he can´t stomach, his facial expressions and his look will change. This will be supported by appropriate sound effects. In case he eats lot of crap, he will even puke (yes, he will puke). It will work also the other way round if he gets something good.
After each level you will be forwarded to screen where you can see your score. Apart from that you can check what you character has been eating during the game (and how much of each product). If you click on the product you can get detailed information on each product. In addition, you may also receive further information on the allergy dealt with in this level.
#3 What about advanced allergenies?
During the first levels the gamer only encounters „obvious products“ (where its easier to say whether it contains the allergen or not). As you get better and proceed further in the game more difficult products will appear. These products may not be as obvious as previous ones and may contain hidden allergens. Furthermore, also the speed of the approaching items will increase with the levels.
#4 How do I know whether I am an allergenious or not?
Basically, you can earn points by eating the right items (100 per item) and lose some (-50 per item) in case you ate a product your character can not stomach. Apart from that you can also lose lives by eating wrong items. After losing three lives you have to start the level again.
At the end you can see your score and also the high score. The high score of each level will be added throughout the game. So the gamer will be encouraged to play a level again in order to increase the overall high score. In addition, you can achieve different rankings with a certain amount of points (eg. Allergenious). To stimulate our players further, there will also be an worldwide online ranking which can be viewed anytime.
#5 How is the learning adapted to individual skills?
As there are different stages of difficulty within the stages, more skilled players will be challenged by later levels while newcomers can enjoy easier stages first.
Well, know you know how to become an allergenious. Stay tuned for more!
Have a nice meal,
Another question that arose the during first talks on our game allergenie:
Who will play our game? For whom will we design? What do possible players want? Consequently we determined a target group for our game.
Well, basically allergenie will be for allergenic people and for those who want to inform themselves on allergens or have relatives/friends who suffer from intolerances in terms of nutrition.
Especially, we will focus on people between 15 and 25 since many people find out about their intolerances during this age. Thus we will try to make the game humorous, well designed, fun to play as a pastime but also containing an educational aspect.
In order to make our target group tangible we created two personas. Unfortunately now without the pictures we picked for the personas as we do not own the rights for them.
#1 - Tobias Mair
Tobias Mair is 17 years old and lives in Gröden, a tiny town in Germany. He attends the secondary school in his hometown. Besides playing the guitar he really loves to read books. Unfortunately Tobias is suffering from lactose intolerance. Thus he has to pay attention on what he is eating. He has great difficulties at ordering food at the restaurant because he is not well informed and not sure which products can contain lactose.
#2 - Laura Sauermoser
Laura 23 years old and runs a blog which is called salara.com. Originally she is from Burgenland but now she lives in Vienna. Laura loves to write about new trends in lifestyle and has an affinity to fashion. Most of her spare time she is hanging around with her handsome boyfriend, called Julian. He is an allergic sufferer - he can not stomach gluten. Since they are a couple and living together Laura also starts to blog about people with food incompatibility.
In order make allergenie an unique game, we implemented a market analysis where we checked whats already on the menu. During this process we found three games that have some similarities to our future allergenie and screened them for their pros and cons.
#1 Wizdy Diner - Food Allergy Game
--> Check it out on Play Store
Wizdy Diner is an educational game in which you are a waiter who has to serve food to allergenic aliens. You have to decide whether the alien can stomach the plate or not. You also have to prevent your guests from „allergy attacks“. The better your service is the more money you earn. So the game raises awareness on allergens - just like Allergenie - by tackling a funny situation.
+ nice visual appearance, funny situation
- Not very popular (100-500 downloads from Play Store so far)
- Rather complicated game play at first sight
#2 Food Allergy Safety
---> Check it out on Play Store
An app to hone ones knowledge on critical allergy safety principles. Features 150 multiple choice questions in combination with explanations. Aimed at future chefs, waiters or so.
+ well founded knowledge on allergens, much information
- not very popular (10-50 downloads from Play Store so far)
- not fun to play - actually no game (no storyline, only questions and not nicely designed)
- not free (5,76 €)
#3 Crocodile Run
---> Check it out on Play Store
Traditional 2D jump ´n´ run game. You are a crocodile catching food in a super-mario like world. Many different levels with different designs and sounds.
+ very popular (1 - 5 million downloads form Play Store so far)
+ easy game play (nice to play as a past time for a few minutes)
- no educational background, just for casual gaming
Out of this market analysis we defined the unique features of our game Allergenie:
+ Education by casual gaming: So you can raise your awareness on allergens by a fun game and without having to learn hard facts
+ allergenie will be visually appealing with a modern design (aiming at our target group)
+ allergenie will also be a low risk (maybe even a big seller) for publisher since we focus on an easy game play. Everybody should be able to play allergenie without a long introduction. Apart from that we want allergenie to be a game, that can be started and paused anytime. Thus you can play it casually - for example when sitting in the train.
Well that´s it for now - have a pleasant meal,
Last time 4 Gänge // Studio served you the basic idea for our game allergenie - before we give away any further details on the game we would like to present you the four students behind 4 Gänge // Studio.
1st course: Daniel Kremser
A dedicated creative guy bursting with ideas. Together with Anna he will prepare the visual ingredients for the game-concept. He will especially concentrate on how the world of allergenie looks like. Afterwards they will also ensure that the game is realizable.
2nd course: Anna Roschker
This girl is literally the chef of illustration. Jointly with Daniel, she will ensure that allergenie is visually appealing. She will among others be responsible for the look of our characters.
3rd course: Michael Fischer
Michael, the alphabet soup of the team, will be liable for texts, layout and the maintenance of this tasty blog. Apart from that, he will - together with Paul - work on the story and the gameplay of allergenie.
4th course: Paul Micheler
The dessert and the overall manager of 4 Gänge // Studio: Paul. He and Michael will tweak the content of the Game and also trial it in later stages of the project. Moreover, he will try to find the perfect soundtrack for allergenie.
Well, now you know who´s on your plates. Enjoy your Meal,
your 4 Gänge // Studio
4 Gänge // Studio likes rigorous working (or rather looking rigorous on photos)
As mentioned in the first post, 4 Gänge // Studio will concentrate on the topic of nutrition for their first game concept. So, this week we brainstormed, did some research and surprisingly fast we came up with the mouth-watering idea that will spice our game:
Well, everyone is talking about allergens these days - especially in Austria after new restrictions for restaurants concerning declaration. But hardly anyone knows all the allergens a product can have. Of course, some are obvious and one who can't stomach lactose won't eat a lot of yoghurt. Nevertheless, there so many hidden allergens so that we had the idea of creating game that raises awareness which products contain which allergens - called allergenie. (clever pun combining allergen and genious)
In fact, we want to create a classic jump ‘n’ run game where you have to decide whether your character can stomach certain food or not. You will have to go through different stages - we dedicate every stage to a certain allergen. You will come across different products and you will have to determine if the allergen is in the product or not. So for example, if your character ate something containing milk in the lactose-level he would become weaker and vice versa.
However, that's basically the main ingredient for our future game. Of course, there are hundreds of ideas spinning in our heads now - but further details will be presented during the next few months (would be boring if we gave the show away right here). Stay tuned!
Bon appétit,
your 4 Gänge // Studio
“mindmap” (or rather the rough gathering of ideas)
Hello! Today, we warmly recommend you 4 Gänge // Studio.
4 Gänge // Studio is a team of four design students that decided to go along and create delicious games.
But why 4 Gänge? What does that mean?
4 - Gänge is German for four-course menu. First of all, they decided to concentrate on nutrition as the main topic of their game. Apart from that, each of the four students - Anna, Daniel, Michael & Paul - is rich in nutrients but everyone has its own taste. Together they form the ideal menu and provide all the ingredients that are necessary for an awesome game.
During the next few months they will keep you informed about the status quo of their game-concept through this blog. So prepare your plates, dinner will be ready soon.
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