GhostSchool.exe
Created with : Akshai Raj, Krystel Theuvenin, Sean Heron, Stephen Colon, Zed Zhou.
Role : Creative Direction, Art & Animation, Narrative Design
Showcased at : SxSW EDU 2018 & 2019
Browser Version : ghostschool.net
Browser Version Released : May 2020
GhostSchool.exe is a MMO educational game for teaching game design and development in Unity3D engine, created for School of Interactive Arts at Urban Arts Partnership. The Browser Version is an adaption to use in school residency with Unity web build version and a Tween version. In this game, students are “trapped” in an abandoned school. In order to regain their freedom, the students will have to learn from a ghost teacher, finish the assignments, and pass the assessment tests.
I co-designed and directed GhostSchool.exe with Akshai Raj in 2017, focusing on the Visual Arts , Narrative Design UX&UI. In 2020, Krystel Theuvenin, Sean Heron, Stephen Colon, Zed Zhou joined the development and created content for school residency during COVID for the remote study environment, as well as the Tween version for students who don’t have access to computer.
Creative Direction and Narrative design
When we started creating this game, I suggested 3 directions:
Version 1 - Students enrolled in this magic school to study SPELLs -- things that written in a mystical language and can do stuffs.
Version 2 - Student trapped in an abandoned school haunted by ghosts that used to be teacher/s. They’ve become evil and will trap students until they’ve learned to code and passed the assessment test.
Version 3 - You are a trainee (cat) in this space team, you need to learn to keep your ship safe and finish the missions.
After showing them to some of the students at the time, we picked the ghost concept, but decided to do it with pixel art to create an “evil cute” style (and proved well received later) for the game. Naturally as a result, students are “trapped” in a school that once known for computer science but failed, asked “Do you want to learn programing” by the ghosts who were once educators whose passion continues even without a physical form, and have to select “yes”. Below is a sample of the game narrative.
UX & UI
This game is navigated by clicking on the map on the left menu bar and travel between rooms for different functionalities:
Students can:
Learn new content by watching instructional videos, with pause points inserted by the teacher for questions and requiring answers to proceed in the Classroom.
Earn trophies and decoration pieces by completing exercises or achieve high scores in the Gym.
Review the content, talk with their classmates, and collaboratively create documents for future reference in the Library.
Socialize with their classmates in the Dorm.
Teacher, as the other group of user, can join the classrooms as ghosts, interact with the students, and manage the class and content.
Visual Design
The finished rooms and some student avatars:
In 2018 and 2019, GhostSchool.exe was showcased at SxSW EDU:
