Seasons is a fun new video game that explains the science of Earth’s seasons in easy-to-understand language for kids in first or second grade. Seasons is narrated by a little astronaut who shows how our Earth orbits around the sun. He explains in clear, concise terms how the seasons work, the dates of solstices and equinoxes, and helps to relate seasonal activities to connect kids to the science they’re learning about. The game finishes once kids have explored all the seasons and the Earth has made a full orbit.
This project is to develop a game that explores how the seasons change as the Earth rotates around the Sun throughout the year. This game is an interactive design that moves the Earth around the Sun, then the child can click on the Earth to find out what the season is at the time. It will help to explain that the seasons we experience will change depending on the tilt and in which hemisphere the player decides to view.
Game Introduction
- Look and Feel
- A simple 2D platform that shows the Earth, the Sun, and the Earth orbit around the Sun.
- Genre
- Exploration, Education
- GamePlay
- Interactions are controlled by mouse clicks.
- Target audience & platforms
- Children
Story
Have you ever wondered how the seasons change throughout the year? With this simulation exploration game, those questions will be answered. Travel with the Earth through it's journey around the Sun throughout the year to figure out what is going on with the seasons. Experience what the seasons are like in the opposite hemisphere as you travel as well. Join the fun year-long adventure as we talk about the seasons!
- Earth
- The planet we live on.
- Sun
- The star we orbit around.
How to Play
Select the "Orbit" button to move the Earth to the next location.
Once the Earth has traveled to the location, click on the Zoom In button
Select the North or South button to view the season for the selected hemisphere.
Select the "Zoom Out" button to go back to view the previous pages.
Astro Dude
Astro Dude walks with us and explores the seasons as the Earth rotates around the Sun. He explains what month it is, what happens during the month, and some fun facts about the seasons.
Backgrounds
Depending on which season and which hemisphere is selected, you will see a different background being displayed. Each background shows the same tree as it progresses through the seasons.
- Fall
- The tree leaves are yellow and orange. Many leaves have fallen off the tree on to the ground. The grass has begun to brown as well.
- Winter
- The tree no longer has leaves on it, showing only bare branches. Snow can be seen on the ground.
- Spring
- The tree leaves have begun to reappear as a light green/yellow color. The grass has begun to grow back and is a light green color.
- Summer
- The tree leaves are full and green. The grass is a dark green in the middle of summer.
Player Elements
As the player interacts with the game, there will be sound effects that can be heard. These effects will occur when a button is clicked and when the Each changes seasons.
- Click
- A sound effect to be played when the player navigates through the game by clicking a button. It's not too high pitched or loud to ensure that it doesn’t become annoying, but still playful enough to keep players entertained and immersed. Found on freesound.org
- Planet Animation
- A sound effect to play when a player interacts with a planet, a short animation will occur at the same time. It's not too high pitched but still a fun noise to hear, encouraging a player to interact with the planet again. Found on freesound.org
Click
Planet Animation
Global Elements
There is a background sound during the entire game play. It starts when the game begins. It can be turned on and off during the game. When the game is ended, the sound will play, even if the background was turned off.
- Background Sound
- This is a sampling of the background music that the player hears during gameplay. The player has the option to turn music on and off during gameplay.
Background Sound
Technical
This game will be hosted on the MIT scratch website. An internet connection and a newer web browser that is capable of running JavaScript is needed.
System Requirements
This game is web-based. An internet connection and a web browser capable of running javascript is required.
User Interface (controls)
Game can be played using a mouse.
Marketing
Blog Website: https://littleguy71102.wixsite.com/my-site
News Release
An up-and-coming game development team just released their first game, Seasons, to be enjoyed amongst the masses. Seasons sheds light on the science of Earth’s seasons in understandable terms for first to second graders, while also providing kids with the fun interactivity of a video game.
As seen on the teams blog website, Seasons has gone through multiple play-throughs with each playtester enjoying different elements that make the game whole. Alongside the fun interactivity of Seasons, you can also enjoy:
- Sound: Seasons brings a unique and enjoyable tune to it’s functions. As the player clicks on buttons, they will hear a fun sound designed just for the clicking animations. Seasons has a planet orbit screen, where the player will have another custom sound to listen to. Finally, Seasons brings its own background noise, to help immerse the player in the game that they’re playing.
- Art: The art designer for Seasons has helped bring the game to life by providing the player with special art to keep the game amusing for all ages. Some of the art you will find in Seasons includes different artwork for each season, box art for the release, a fun main character, and the main logo which players are greeted with before they jump into the fun of Seasons.
- Special Guide Character: Players do not have to learn about the seasons alone! In Seasons, they are guided by an original astronaut, known as Astro Dude. Astro Dude will explain what the player is viewing in clear and concise details, with all the correct scientific terminology.
Among all these fun and exciting elements, the player will enjoy a narrative that was written specially to foster young minds who want to learn about the seasons. With a beautifully coded game and a fresh new game design team, Seasons is sure to spark enjoyment and love for our beautiful seasons in all hearts, young and old.
Check out the game design blog here!: https://littleguy71102.wixsite.com/my-site
Read the game design document
This news release was written by Emma Lidbetter
Development
You can see this game on Scratch - https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/496812469
Game Development Credits
The team behind Seasons include:
Jillian Frimml - Main Programmer
Keiran McMannus - Marketing and PR
Ashley Stafford - Sound Engineering and Production
Nyssa Jordan - Art Designer
Emma Lidbetter - Writer
The original idea behind Seasons was created by: Jillian Frimml