The Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab at MSU, part of the Media and Information (M&I) department in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences (ComArtSci), recently completed a new game sponsored by the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) called Saving Draggy.
Targeted to kids aged 5 -10, Saving Draggy focuses on increasing their cognition and understanding of basic financial concepts as they engage in an epic quest to save Draggy – their baby dragon. All graphics, music, code, script, story and game design were created by undergraduate M & I and computer science students in conjunction with Associate Professor Brian Winn.
So far, the game is a hit. At least that’s what Winn told us after performing a few rounds of user testing with kids aged 5-10, "(The) kids had a very positive response to the game. They were excited about the theme (saving your baby dragon in an epic adventure game) and really liked the mini games embedded within the larger adventure game."
This isn’t the first time the GEL Lab and MSUFCU have partnered on a gaming project. In fact, Saving Draggy is the fourth financial literacy game MSU has created with the credit union. Past games include Spartan Villa (ages 17+), Saving Magic (ages 10-13) and Saving with Piggy (ages 2-5). The GEL Lab is currently working on the fifth game for MSUFCU, geared for ages 13-16.
Saving Draggy is available on the web, Apple iOS and Android. It is 100% free to download and play.