 |
 |
|
In Gamelab’s first downloadable title for children 3-6, popular TV character Bob the Builder gets a big surprise – a trainload of zoo animals with no place to put them. Bob and his friends Scoop, Muck, Scrambler and the rest of the gang must build a new zoo for Bobland Bay before the animals get into too much trouble. Featuring seven mini-games with three levels of difficulty, Bob the Builder: Can-Do Zoo teaches and reinforces pattern, shape, and color recognition; memory and time sequencing; and following directions. The game features a Story Mode, which takes players through a scripted sequence of games and cutscenes (all fully voiced by Bob and his pals) as they build each animal’s habitat, as well as Free Play mode where children can play any game at any difficulty level they choose. Whenever a player completes a mini-game, they are awarded one of over 100 stickers that can be used in the Sticker Book mode, a free-form creativity tool that lets them create their own Bob the Builder scenes. The first of two Bob the Builder games from Brighter Minds and Gamelab, Can-Do Zoo is wild fun for the whole family. The Design We wanted to make a game for kids that displayed the same level of quality as our games for adults. Many preschool games are slow and arduous for parents as well as children, with lengthy story sequences and dull, repetitive games. We wanted to keep things moving briskly in order to avoid taxing young attention spans as well as to reinforce the skills that children will use moving forward, both in games and in their everyday lives. The design of each activity is fairly simple: the interaction scheme is limited to mouse input and there is virtually no on-screen text. However, unlike many children’s games, each mini-game has multiple levels of difficulty as well as multiple puzzles and solutions within those levels. To further encourage repeat play sessions, the game awards a unique sticker after each mini-game: with over 100 stickers to collect, young gamers have to go through the Story Mode nearly ten times in a row to get them all. The inclusion of a free-form creativity tool in the Sticker Book mode was also important, as we believe that creativity and expression is essential at any age. Giving kids the chance to make their own zoo scenes with Bob and crew was a wonderful way for us to get them involved in the design process in a small but meaningful way. Features
System Requirements
Peter Lee - lead game design Special Thanks Eric Zimmerman
|        |
  | |
