In Okami, my character, Ameratsu, the dog goddess, came across an elder gentleman that needed a dog to dig at a specific place. Then, I immediately got swept in a mini-game involving protecting the gentleman from harm, and digging wherever the gentleman wanted me to. Okami is filled with mini-gamesContinue Reading

This post will look at the educational potential of Okami, and some lessons to be learned from a game mostly based on entertainment. Given the game’s roots appeared to be from Japanese folklore, and what we could learn from it, I started thinking about one of Salen’s question in herContinue Reading

Games that use different interaction styles require different ways to learn. A gamer needs to know what would happen if the joystick was moved completely to one side – would a cursor move to a direction at a constant rate, or move really fast? So one of the challenges withContinue Reading

This post is titled after the title of a Penny Arcade Expo 2011 panel, and I loved their title enough to use it here. Here’s one question that I haven’t answered, but I probably have been dancing around the question on and off, from Salen’s 2007 work: What forms ofContinue Reading

Depending on the kind of game it is, plot’s very important. Plot gives a set of guidelines in how to approach the story. The plot guides gamers on when to be emotionally engaged in the game, such as when an allied character dies, when to learn, such as first learningContinue Reading

I am still in the early portion of the game, Okami. I think I beat the first two bosses, and I only cast doubt, because I’m unsure of  how bad these opponents are and whether they would be considered bosses in the gamer community. I’d rather not look it upContinue Reading

This reflection is geared towards the introductory part of the game, where the user learns how to use the controls, interacts with the environment for the first time, and learns from the non-playable characters(NPC’s) who act as guides and teachers for the game. The teaching of how to use aContinue Reading

For Digital Game-Based Learning, we all selected one off the shelf video game to play. The goal is to see, from a gamer and an educational perspective, what can we learn from the game to make us better game designers. Word Count: 248 ——————————————————————————————- Okami is an action game whereContinue Reading