Category: Serious Game Ideas

Aleah, Mason, Lauren

• Theme: Politics as systems, not heroes
• Genre: Satirical management sim
• You don’t control leaders you control the system around them: media bias, lobbyists, public fear, misinformation.
• Even “good” leaders fail if the machine is broken.
• Mind shift: Political outcomes are shaped by systems, not just individuals.

• Theme: Air pollution & corporate denial
• Genre: Survival horror
• The air is slowly becoming toxic. You wear a mask, but filters are expensive, rare, and controlled by a private company.
• The world looks normal at first… until you remove the mask and see the truth:
• Buildings are rotting
• People are coughing black smoke
• The sky is decaying
• The company insists everything is safe.
• Mind Shift: The scariest thing is that the truth is optional.

–

• Theme: Climate normalization
• Style: Semi-cooperative / social horror
• Core Mechanic
• Disaster cards (fire rain, mass floods, toxic fog) are drawn every round.
• But players also draw Normalization cards that force them to act like nothing is wrong.
• If anyone reacts with fear, the group loses resources.
• Horror Twist
• The more disasters happen, the fewer panic responses are allowed.
• Mind Shift: You realize you’re suppressing fear to survive.

• Theme: Fossil fuel dependence
• Style: Engine-building horror
• You feed a central Engine with Fuel cards to keep cities alive.
• The Engine mutates, demanding more every round.
• You can shut it down but doing so kills cities immediately.
• Mind Shift: The system only exists because you keep it alive.

• Theme: Collective guilt
• Style: Reverse victory
• Every time you “fix” a problem, the world worsens.
• The only way to win is to stop playing, but the rules never say that.
• Mind Shift: The game teaches you when to walk away.

PERSUASIVE ENDLESS GAME (FROM WEEK ONE)

The persuasive purpose of this digital pet experience is to emotionally connect users to their virtual companion by making them feel responsible, needed, and valued, encouraging consistent engagement through care-based gameplay. By showing that the pet depends on the user for its happiness and growth and becomes lonely when neglected the experience taps into empathy and attachment rather than rewards alone. This motivates users to return often, form a bond, and unlock new pets, reinforcing the idea that their time, attention, and kindness truly matter.

Aleah, Mason, Lauren

• Digital Pet ( you get to pick) you have to maintain its health. Feed it , bath it , play with it, hydrate, comfort it, teach it trick, etc.
• You can get more pets the more you take care of it.
• If you don’t take care of it your pet will be lonely and will just be sitting on your device waiting for you to come back.

• Civilization game. Relaxing Garden game where you have to snip, grow, build up on your garden. The more you expand the more you grow and enhance your garden.
• Endlessly planting flowers, plants, gets money to buy seeds, pots, materials
• selling and buying your garden plants.

• Merge Game (Turtle Merge) merging turtles to different breeds/hybrids.
• The more you merge the more coins, and points you get.
• Endless levels

• Police game once you get a call you have to attend to the emergency once you complete the task you upgrade to get employees and upgrade to different materials to help you complete your tasks.
• You have endless calls and scenarios to attend to.

• Dog walking simulator
• some dogs are easier to walk then others
• the more you complete the walks the more materials you get to walk the dog while painting your well being to
• upgrading to better shoes, better leash, doggie bags, etc.

Kaelin Hartman, Christine Ursiny, Brayden Bauer, Grace Powers

1. Checking out library books as the librarian – stamping them or scanning them out to people
2. Water bucket filler – click to fill the bucket and move to the next one
3. Assembly line food making game – just keep making pizza
4. Color walk – just keep walking and taking pictures or pointing out certain colors (single player or group play)
5. Matching like cars to get rid of traffic on a highway (but it never ends) like Bejeweled but with cars and sort of like Crossy Road.

(6. An ASMR game where you can build and layer ASMR triggers – like a DJ board but for ASMR sounds

7. Like an Abacus but digitally)

Short Summary

This game was for my Writing and Pr Class. We needed to come up with a campaign and host an event for it. Our campaign was about Earth Day, preserving the environment, and sustainability. The game I decided to develop (I mostly did this part) was an unwanted item gift exchange. 

This encouraged people to repurpose items that they don’t really need or want anymore and challenge modern day overconsumption. The game also sprinkled in some education and facts about Earth Day and its history. 

Primary Audience: PR and Advertising Writing Class (although this game could be used for other audiences as well, mostly as an Earth Day introduction!)

Design Process & Thought Process 

Iterative Design: 

There wasn’t a lot of visual design associated with this game. The game was mostly something with verbal instructions, and the physical components were contributed by the players themselves in the form of gift exchange gifts. These assumed a few different forms, but mostly they were in brown paper bags because the audience forgot to bring most of their gifts. Other gifts were in old grocery bags, boxes, etc. 

In the background of the game, was a slideshow that introduced the game and the idea of Earth Day, it remained in the background to help set the tone of the game. 

Game Mechanics: 

Players gather in a circle. They are asked to listen to a story for directional cues to pass around the gifts. When you hear LEFT, pass it to your left. When you hear RIGHT, pass it to your right. When you hear REVERSE, undo your last pass. At the end of the script, players are allowed to open whatever gift landed on them in the end. 

Player Goals: 

To gain a better understanding of Earth Day and understand the importance of reducing overconsumption. Every player essentially “wins” with each player receiving a prize that is different than the one they brought in.  

Gameplay Sequence: 

BEFORE STARTING: Ask if everyone has brought an item and if they have it “wrapped” or in something concealed. If there is anyone who doesn’t have an item or have it wrapped, quickly arrange to get this sorted out. 

THEN ASK: Will everyone please sit/stand/gather in a circle with their items? And follow the following story based on the directional cues. When you hear LEFT, pass it to your left. When you hear RIGHT, pass it to your right. When you hear REVERSE, undo your last pass.

AND THEN THE SCRIPT IS READ. 

Game Board & Components: 

A script and unwanted item gifts (contributed by the class). I also supplied some extra gifts in the event that players forgot to bring one in and another group member brought in brown paper bags to put any “unwrapped” items in. 

The wrapped gift picture is a craft set that I wrapped with paper packaging filler and decorated using a ripped Trader Joe’s bag. Players were encouraged to come up with similar gifts for their contribution. Also pictured is the gift that I received from playing the game, as an example.

Rulebook and Playtesting 

Rulebook Sample:

(rules were mostly written by Amber, with some contributions from other group members)

Playtesting Notes: 

Overall, I learned that no matter how many emails you send out to a class, you can’t expect everyone to remember to bring stuff to contribute to the game. With finals and the Great RMU Blackout happening all around the same time, it was a little bit expected that not everyone would remember; however, there were about 2 people that actually remembered. Despite this, the game was still able to work, but it was mostly just with items that people had in their backpacks that they didn’t want anymore. This was luckily able to still reinforce the concept of overconsumption and sustainability. 

Players seemed to receive the story and content of the script super well. With a couple people commenting that they really enjoyed it and that it was a cute idea. Players were forced to pay attention to the story so that they could listen to the directional cues, making them more engaged in the facts about Earth Day.

• What questions did your players have? Players were confused at times but the misleading directional cues. Some of the words such as “WRITER” intended to make them still pass the gifts to their right, but many people asked if they were supposed to. 
• How quickly did they learn to play? They learned to play fairly quickly, although the script needed to be restarted because I don’t think everyone was fully paying attention, which is important for a game that involves a high level of observance and attention. 
• What kinds of interactions did the players have? Players passed gifts back and forth to each other, which involved a lot of laughing and confusion at times when there were multiple directional cues back to back. 
• What confused players? I think sometimes players got mixed up with their left and right, especially when the directional cues were so close together. It especially made it hard when a reverse was thrown in the midst, and players weren’t sure what way they needed to move to undo their last pass. 
• What made players excited? Players really enjoyed opening their gifts at the end and listened to the story in anticipation of the next directional cue. 
• What did your players enjoy doing? Opening gifts and passing them back and forth. 
• Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? The most frustrating parts for players were the confusing directional cues such as WRITER and maybe not a slow enough pace for reading the script. 

Game Reflections: 

To reflect on this game, I honestly feel like this was a pretty good way to give people an introductory understanding of Earth Day and its history. I could see something like this being especially helpful at a high school level, maybe on Earth Day itself. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our event on actual Earth Day so that is one limitation to the effectiveness of this game. 

In the future, I would like to correct some of the confusing directional cues that I included such as WRITER. Or clarify that even if it is not technically RIGHT if you still hear it, you need to pass it. I would also like to make some improvements to the process of contributing gifts to the game. I like the idea of everyone bringing their own gift but in a scenario such as this, someone is always going to forget unfortunately. The pacing of telling the script is also integral to the gameplay experience and the comprehension of information. I would consider maybe a pre recorded script for this or nominating someone specific who can rehearse the script prior. 

Email Promos:

I started to vaguely work on structuring out my interactive fiction game… nowhere near done but this exploration helped me get started to see how I want to continue in the future. I might explore other programs, since it was difficult to find much information to style the pages, especially since there are like 4 main types of stories in Twine. I know a lot of it involves a CSS stylesheet, but at that point I might as well just make my own from scratch.

Future Considerations

To continue on with this on the future, there are numerous things I want to do to this game. First of all, I need to actually finish it and refine the content. But here are some other things I might want to work on as well:

• add an anxiety-inducing soundtrack (fast-paced, unnerving, etc.)
• add even more text animations and shakes to the screen to make the decisions and content reflect the feelings expressed in the text
• make it so that the text appears on the screen in little chunks, so that the player is more likely to read the text
  • could even make it more of like a kinetic typography kind of thing!
• add little illustrations occasionally (kind of in a sketchy style or the one below)
  • could do these illustrations on scratchboard and then scan the drawings!!
• consider maybe both “good” and “bad” endings. For instance, maybe the one offers some tips to help deal with these anxious thoughts and they are hence resolved and then the other the bad scenarios do come true, but it still works out in the end!
• playtesting!!

I couldn’t figure out how to link to the file, but you don’t wanna see it anyway. This is pretty much all I have.

This game is nowhere near done so this is more so a pitch for an interactive fiction game I want to continue to develop!

CASE STUDY~ Please check out my first post about this game, where I go over the drawing process if you’re interested!

Summary: The game, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover” is about assumptions, and basing judgments on people based on a picture of them. The game has over 20 different people, with a variety of different statements based on an event or experience a person has dealt with in their life. These statements can be humorous, sad, or surprising. 

Primary Audience: The primary audience is generally people over the age of 15 as some of the cards are more serious topics that a younger audience may not fully understand the weight of. 

Design and Thought Process…

Iterative Design: 

Basic Idea: Based on the idea of finding an old book, and judging its contents based on the old, worn cover. The character cards are based on Polaroids in black and white, to also “age” the design concept. More people were added through the versions, and new statements were used, but the design stayed consistent with the versions. 

Version 1 Design: The statement cards are an old yellow parchment style, and the font is comparable to typewritten. I wanted the impression when seeing the game for the first time to be “This looks old, and like a crime scene game.” The character cards are loosely based on the standard style of a Polaroid photo, as it gives some room for the character’s names, age, and pronouns. For the rules sheet, I used the same yellow and carried the same typewritten font over.

The Polaroid Cards above are the Version 1 (Left) and Version 2 (Right 2) designs for the cards.

Above: Some examples of the Statement Cards from Version 1

Version 2 Design: I chose to stick to the same design concept but added a few more details and styling to the second version. For the Polaroid character cards, the art style was consistent, but I added an “Occupation” to the cards as I noticed many players were spending a lot of time using the age of the character to match rather than any other detail. It makes the game a bit easier, but it also shows how much players are paying attention. 

For the statement cards, I decided to make them more like slips of paper, due to a happy accident of the yellow coloring I used before not printing correctly. (I didn’t want to waste any paper) So I ended up cutting the cards down just to have the words fit, and used stamping ink to apply my own thumb prints on the paper’s design. 

I did design to include a box, and I had two other smaller boxes I used as well (I recycled!) To make the boxes have consistency and style, I painted the parts of the boxes that were printed on with posca pens and brown acrylic paint to age it. Then I used an old pile of book pages and applied modge podge to the paper and box (Think like paper mache) and used lots of alcohol ink and the same stamp ink to apply my finger prints. For the rules paper, I reused the same page as before, but I CAREFULLY, used a lighter torch and burned the edges. 

Game Mechanics: The game was intended to be super simple, spread the character cards out, and then the statement cards out in a different area on a table. Then, carefully read each character card and observe their name, age, pronoun, and occupation, while also observing what they look like. Then read the statements aloud, and decide who fits what statement, based on the content of the statement itself, or the information provided on the character cards. After each statement has been matched with a person, the game master (Me) will check and take away the ones that are correct. The game continues until all cards have been matched correctly. 

Player Goals: Understand the concepts of judging others based on appearance, and little information given about them – you never truly know what someone is going through.

Gameplay Sequence: Place all the character cards out, and then all the statement cards, observe and read/look at all the cards. Try to match the correct cards with the people, repeat until all cards are matched.

Game Board and Components: 

Version 1: The game contains 15 Polaroid Cards, 15 Statement Cards, as well as a rule set.

Version 2: The game contains 18 Polaroid Cards, 18 Statement Cards, as well as a rule set, two small boxes labeled “Statements” and “Polaroid” Cards, all packed into a bigger box with the title of the game on the face of the box

Rulebook and Playtesting

Rulebook Sample: 

Playtesting Notes: 

The biggest lesson I learned was that not everyone took the time to observe as much as they could about the people in the game, but players also didn’t stereotype and judge people as much as I assumed they would! Players would often build thoughts and ideas about who did what, and I think after multiple rounds of playing, people became a little overwhelmed with the concept of getting the cards matched incorrectly all the time.

Game Maker’s Play Test Notes – Don’t Judge a Book by it’s cover (Combined for Versions 1 and 2)

• What questions did your players have? Who are these people, and can I be in the next version were the two biggest questions
• How quickly did they learn to play? The rules are quite simple, so they worked together and figured out the concept quickly.
• What kinds of interactions did the players have?  Laughter, surprise, and empathy in general when cards were matched correctly. Some cards were humorous, and some were a bit sad. I think they learned a lot about being empathic with others.
• What confused players? They would match a card incorrectly and not remember to move it during the next round, so they would keep getting cards wrong.
• What made players excited? Seeing their friends on some of the cards, and getting matches correct
• What did your players enjoy doing? Reading all the statement cards
• Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? Getting matches wrong multiple times.

Game Reflections:

I enjoyed the process of creating this game and the meaning behind its purpose. It was really enjoyable to connect with people during my process of developing the game, hearing some of their stories, and seeing their reactions to my drawing of them. I hope to make another iteration of the game that will allow people to play without the need of having me around, as well as some changes in how hard it is to match some of the cards. But all in all, I think the game was a huge success!

Premise

Hear Me is a gentle, therapeutic browser experience. Players select how they feel (Happy, Sad, Lost, etc.) and are provided with a mood-matching song and a journaling space to reflect. It’s designed as a calming audio-visual tool.

Story

There’s no “win” condition. The game exists to support and calm. It’s about making space for feelings — especially for players who might not always feel heard. Whether sad or anxious, the design invites users to sit, listen, and write.

Process

I used HTML/CSS/JS and embedded music from SoundCloud. Originally, I tried YouTube, but due to embed restrictions I switched to SoundCloud playlists. The UI is bright and welcoming, and the layout includes a welcome page and journaling feature.

Final Product

A playable site that includes:
• Mood-based background color and music
• 1 SoundCloud track per mood
• Journaling space with a “Save My Thoughts” option
• A smooth intro screen that eases the player into the experience

Premise

True or Twisted? is a political fact-checking quiz game designed to help players separate truth from misinformation. Through a series of carefully crafted statements, players must decide if each one is true or false, but the twist is that the wrong answers reflect real-world misconceptions. It’s part game, part wake-up call.

Story/Intent

We live in a time when people often encounter fake headlines before real ones, and many vote or argue based on half-truths. This game challenges players to think critically and rewards informed awareness.

By including wrong answers based on popular conspiracy theories, the game simulates how misinformation travels — and gives players the tools to fight it.

The tone stays neutral, even when addressing controversial topics, to build trust across viewpoints. No lectures. Just facts and choices.

The Process

This project started as a reimagining of “The Election Game,” which focused on candidate knowledge. As the political climate evolved, the goal shifted: to educate players about current government actions, broken promises, and viral misinformation — whether they supported the ruling party or not.

Built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the game features:
• Dynamic true/false questions
• Feedback after each answer with the correct information
• A clean UI with bold fonts and visual clarity
• A system prepared to expand with chatbot features or live fact updates in the future

Story

The deeper you go into the game, the more surreal it becomes. The player unknowingly becomes complicit in a narrative they don’t understand. The experience asks: what happens when we blindly follow orders without understanding the consequences?

Premise

At first glance, The Sequence is a simple color-matching memory game. But as players complete more rounds, a hidden layer unfolds: each round reveals a disturbing real or fictional news clipping, making players question what they’re really participating in.

Process

The 1st version of the game was a card game that was made and tested
The 2nd version of the game was built using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I started with basic sequence logic, then integrated mood-based design changes (ambient colors per round) and a modal system to trigger random headlines. I collected both real and imagined news clips and paired them with specific rounds.

INITIAL VERSION (CARD GAME)

The Sequence – Early Card Game Version
Premise:
Players drew and replicated color pattern cards, seemingly just to match them — but over time, those sequences triggered event cards (news clippings or real-world consequences), revealing that they were unknowingly participating in something much deeper or darker.

Gameplay Elements:

Color Pattern Cards: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Red — shuffled and drawn in sequences

Reaction Phase: After successfully copying a pattern, a news/event card was revealed

Narrative Twist: Players realized that their actions were feeding into hidden systems (e.g., political events, surveillance, or complicit behavior)

Goal:
players kept going, but the real point was to notice the moral weight of their obedience.

FEEDBACK

Well put together but long in gameplay.( Colin )
Needed to provide premise to the game to give an idea to players (Kelsey)

A “FINAL VERSION”

A playable browser-based experience with:
• 16 color patterns
• 16 news clippings (mild to extreme)
• A narrative twist through tone, glitch effects, and unsettling themes
• Great for reflection, discussion, and emotional design critique