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[magicfred]

Hi everybody,

I present to you my flash game project: Boodiboo.
Boodiboo is a game for children from 3-5 years. Children play Boodiboo, little strange and funny character, to explore the island and its activities.
It is impossible to lose, there is no goal and this is simple to play.
No life bar, no time limit, no "real" trap: All fun of the game is based on the discovery, exploration and surprise.

Grand Master Adam Atomic join me to code it (thanx ^^).

You can find more things on my blog: http://www.magicfred.com/index.php/Game-project



I will add stuffs to the topic during the progress of the project.

Oh! And er... I'm a french guy who speaks English as a pot (to understand: not speak very well).

[Inane]

Adorable! Though I think this belongs in Feedback.

[magicfred]

Yes, but it's always a pleasure this kind of comment ^^

[Annabelle Kennedy]

this is AMAZING! so cute!

[Eclipse]

loving the graphic style, also because i'm using flat colors too on my game

[Guert]

Yup, this goes in the feedback section. Cute tho.

[Bree]

I don't care if this is for preschoolers, I want to play it. If you don't mind me asking, what sort of things can we expect to find in Boodiboo? How can the player interact with the world? And how soon can we get a t-shirt with that art?

[lowpoly]

very cool, I got a little one right in that age group to test it out
keep us updated

[Annabelle Kennedy]

And how soon can we get a t-shirt with that art?

[jwaap]

Lovely indeed. <3 Awesome graphics.

[Guert]

Alright, here are a couple of questions about the game in general. First, what will be the gameplay like and what will make the kid come back to the game? You talk about having no goals and no failure. Although I understand what you mean here, what I want to know is what will the kid have to do in that game? What will be his/her motivation to go through the experience? What will the kid learn from this experience? What will be the content of the world? How do you plan to make the kid understand the universe wthout using words? In general, I feel like the game seems to be on the right track but I have no idea of what you have planned gameplay-wise and I think that for a kids game, it's crucial that you have something  solid. I've made two kids game and done some play tests and kids have a short attention span. The second they are bored, you don't get a second chance, they just stop playing. You have to hook oftenly to keep them in your game, which can ben quite hard depending of your game.

Do you know kids that will be able to test play the game? Do you have kids of your own or very close to you? One thing I felt very helpful was talking to kids about the games. Kids are very honest and will tell you if it sucks or not. They'll usualy tell you what they want to do in the game. I strongly suggest that you meet a couple of kids, girls and boys, and then talk to them about this game, showing them pictures and then just listen to what they have to say. That is, of course, if you didn't already done that before

Well keep up the good work. Last quick question, from what country are you from?
Later! 

[magicfred]

Hi Guert,

Initially I created this game for my daughter who will soon be 4 years.
This is a fan of Nintendo DS, but there are very few games suited to their age on this console. The games to which she "plays" The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Animal Crossing, Nintendogs and Electroplancton. For each of the titles above it only plays with 1% of gameplay that the game can offer. But she plays easily 20 minutes to walk Link and fell into the water

Boodiboo will not be an educational game. There is a need already on the market. Boodiboo only intended to be fun.

I therefore based on a game only to the mouse and no click. The character will follow the mouse and when an object interactive meet it triggers a funny event. For example Boodiboo opens an umbrella when he is under a cloud of rain.
Other actions are planned but Surprise! And your children will be welcome to the test.

The child will spend 15 to 30 minutes to play. This is more than enough for this age group. And it leaves time for parents to take a break quiet

I put a point of honor on one thing: The child must be able to act alone without any assistance from parents.

I hope I have answered your questions. Oh, I'm French but now I live in Montreal (Canada) since September 2007.


   
For other members of the forum: I'm happy that you enjoy!
The t-shirts I will reflect once the game ended

[Farbs]

I really like the concept for this. My limited understanding of young children's entertainment is that they love to learn, but that they don't enjoy being challenged or confused. Having simple actions occur as the character wanders around the world should be perfect.

This game also reminds me somewhat of "Just Grandma and Me", and old DOS game my little sisters used to have. It's basically an interactive storybook, however on each illustration you can click on lots of different things to have them perform a little animated sequence. If you can track down a copy I strongly recommend checking it out. It really reinforces the idea that simply clicking on things can be fun

Mobygames link
Review

[magicfred]

Thank You Farbs !

[Melly]

I must say though, that bird's kinda creepy.

Just teasing, I actually find it funny-looking.

[Guert]

First off, I'm always happy to happy to see a fellow Montrealer. I hope you are adapting well to our province . Now, back to the topic... As long as you add as many interactive elements as possible, your toy will be interesting.

One thing I would like to clear tho, when I say "something to learn", I'm not speaking of educational games that forces the kid to learn what 2+2 or whatever is. I'm talking about what the player will learn while playing, or the skills he'll be developing. I think I should've said "what skills do you plan to focus in your game design" instead.

And, I have to say that it is my view that kids just love to be challenged. Kids love it when they can overcome an obstacle and push their limits. Kids are learning machine and they love to test their limits every day. From "Look! I can ride my bike without my using hands!", "Look! I can jump this far from the house!", "Look! I dressed up all my dolls alone!" or "Look! I made a drawing of a dog!", kids will be proud of things they acomplished. I feel like theres this misconception around in the game industry telling that kids are unintelligent beings who just like to look at big shiny moving pictures. Kids are humans and humans need challenges that fit their skills. This is not aimed at anyone here tho, it's something I've been feeling over the last years.   

So anyway, keep up the good work When do you think you will release something?
Later!

[Bree]

That bird kind of looks like a kiwi. Do you have a name for it?

[magicfred]

Yes, this is a kiwi.
No name but if you have an idea... ^^

[magicfred]

Guert > I see
   
From 3 to 4 years there is no competitive spirit (that is what I see in the day-care). Between 4 and 6 years, actually, this kind of thing can happen. I don't have the opportunity to live it yet ^ ^

I have some ideas that go in this direction.

[Guert]

Cool I don't think I'm a kid expert anyway. And I think it can also depend of the kid's personality.  Is the game going to be in a particular language? It could be interesting to have it translated in different languages so that kids from around the world will be able to enjoy it to its fullest.

Later!