I had no idea what a behavior tree was when Ben Sand, the founder and CEO of Brainworth, explained how Var and the Vikings worked. But
Var and the Vikings is a hybrid puzzler/platformer video game that integrates its educational content so seamlessly that players don’t realize they’re learning. That is, players think they are only learning the rules, or mechanics, of a video game.
Players learn basic concepts of artificial intelligence--the same concepts that game designers use to program the behaviors of the antagonists and supporting characters in popular games like Halo. In Var and the Vikings, players program the avatar and when they succeed he navigates the platform: jumping over hurdles, fighting against enemies, and pushing obstacles out of the way.
Var and the Vikings just began its Kickstarter Campaign which aims to raise a modest $31,000. They have multiple goals, both for this round of funding and for future rounds. They aim to improve and develop Var and the Vikings, add new levels, create a multiplayer mode, and eventually even an ipad version. But what’s more, the folks at Brainworth aim to “change education forever with serious games that are incredibly fun and engaging.” They’ve written a manifesto arguing that “improving education is the most pressing moral issue we face. Educational Games are the strongest answer to this challenge.”
If you follow me on Forbes, you already know that I’m a big advocate of game based learning. I believe players, especially kids, are always learning from games. And I think we need to be much more thoughtful about the kinds lessons we are teaching inadvertently. From this perspective, I’m a fan of Var and the Vikings. But I wasn’t sold instantly.
At first, I wondered why it was important to teach artificial intelligence theories and skills. The concepts involved in creating behavior trees seemed like a specialized skill and I couldn’t imagine why I would be interested in introducing my seven year old to the game. However, as I gave it more thought, I realized that I was being narrow minded. I was imagining the categories of a familiar academic curriculum that was designed for a less interactive world. As new educational technologies emerge, educational curricula will inevitably change.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we need to abandon the classics. The foundational categories of Western education are sound. Believe me, I teach at a large university--Plato, Homer, Freud, Rousseau, etc--I’m a fan of traditional liberal arts education. It is not the subject matter that needs to change, just the curriculum.
“Curriculum” literally means “course,” the kind we run, or race on. It has to do with the way we drive or move. It has to do with the track that shapes or directs the path of learning. Curriculum describes the way we organize, order, or compartmentalize the essential human values that we hope to instill in our children. And the structural curriculum is prefigured by the technologies with which we construct the course.
The course is changing. The world is changing. Gaming is everywhere. And game design is quickly becoming an important linguistic system in its own right. Behavior trees, and other basic concepts of artificial intelligence, might soon be part of the grammar of articulate self-expression. Unfortunately, our educational theory, practice, and technology seems slow to adapt.
Var and the Vikings is a game that envisions game based learning the right way--where subject matter and curriculum are neatly integrated into a single learning experience.
Best of all, it is fun! Pledge your support. I’m hoping they’re successful; I want to play more.
Jordan Shapiro is author of FREEPLAY: A Video Game Guide to Maximum Euphoric Bliss and co-editor of Occupy Psyche: Jungian and Archetypal Perspectives on a Movement. For information on his upcoming books and events click here.
