AskAboutGames On The Road: Finding Your Voice
One of the joys we have recently rediscovered is taking AskAboutGames out on the road to visit festivals, expos, schools and colleges. This week we were invited to bring some video game engagement to a project that operates in schools to help young people gain confidence in communication and raise aspirations.
We spent a little time talking about age ratings and the games the students already played before moving on to some games we had chosen to create new ways to communicate and engage with each other.
The games we used in the lesson were each designed to encourage group thinking, communication and interaction. We chose games that looked simple but that have more going on than first appears. The games we played were mostly available in a browser for free, and could be played on their Chromebooks once whitelisted for the session by the school. Other games were played on iPad and other tablets, and again either available for free or at a low cost.
- A Dark Room (PEGI 7)
- At The Hedges of Time
- Passage (PEGI 7)
- QWOP (PEGI 3)
- Spaceteam (PEGI 3)
After introducing the concept from the front, the students each had time to play the games together and individually. We then regrouped to discuss what they had experienced and how this related to other games they played.
The session was enjoyed by both the students and teachers. "2 hours passed like 2 minutes. An education and powerful gaming experience," said course leader Rachel Higginson.
Finding My Voice is an individual and small group project supporting young people to physically and metaphorically ‘find their voice’. During the course they learn to become more confident in speaking whether this is publicly, to their friends or in sharing their feelings more clearly.
Finding my voice also means young people sharing and discovering what their individual talents and interests are and how they can develop these during their school life and into their ambitions for the future.
For more games like the ones we used these filterable lists are a good place to start:
