Motivation Playlist

 I played 3 of the 4 games (Sadly, couldn’t play the demo of Learning Factory), but for this I will be comparing “Influent” and “Password Blaster!”. “Influent” is an immersive language learning game that allows the player to navigate the 3D world learning various languages by interacting with the environment. “Password Blaster!” is an old school space blaster where the player shoots through waves of the “world’s worst passwords” by typing the password to eliminate it.

 

Both games are vastly different in gameplay and learning modalities with little to really compare in content, visuals, or gameplay.

What was the game about?

Influent is about a developer of a language learning tool that is showing off the ability of his device. You as the player navigate the world interacting with various objects to learn the word in the chosen language. The game presents “Time attacks” challenges to further condition the learning.

Password Blaster is a game that showcases some of the world worst passwords, ideally, to take a different approach to teach the player the importance of a strong robust digital password.

What one word best describes your gameplay experience?

Influent: cumbersome

Password Blaster: FUN!

What did you learn?

Influent: My daughter and I played for long enough to accomplish the first objective and challenged ourselves to a time attack. We learned a few basic words in Italian, reforming the words with the time attack.

Password Blaster: I learned that I am not as fast as a typist as I think and reaffirmed that my spelling is horrible.

How engaging was the game?

Influent: I could see how this game could be engaging, but the controls were a bit cumbersome and the gameplay became very repetitive really quickly. Because of these factors I gave up on the game rather quickly. The general gameplay was just clicking around on objects which played an audio of the word in the chosen language, then you would repeat.

Password Blaster: Was a very simplistic game with almost no thrills, but I found it very engaging. It challenges the player as they read the word and type as quickly as possible all while more words appear on the screen. I found myself playing several rounds as well as getting my daughter and wife to play several rounds as well!

What, if anything did you find confusing or hard to understand as you played?

Influent: Nothing really… pretty standard computer game controls.

Password Blaster: First time playing I didn’t really know the controls, since no information is given. I just happened to figure it out by hitting random keys that eventually correlated with one of the given words.

What did you enjoy/not enjoy while playing the game?

Influent: I enjoyed the idea of the game and the work that was put into the graphics/game play. Overall, it seemed robust. However, the actual gameplay got old really quick, and I just didn’t have a good time.

Password Blaster: I loved the simplicity of the game and the “retro” feel. I can actually see myself telling others to play it or playing a few rounds to kill 10 mins in the day.

Consider the motivational elements with each of the 2 games and compare/contrast them. (250 words max)

I believe both games fall under an intrinsic motivation umbrella. Influent is built for learners that want to learn a new language, so the driving motivation is for the player to want to learn something either for the sack of learner or for an end goal (example: travelling). Password Blaster I don’t think has a really learning goal but motivates players to continue to play to do better. I found myself playing multiple times to see if I could outperform myself, or the others I was playing with.

Ultimately, I found Password Blaster far more engaging and was further motivated to keep playing, however, I could see if I wanted to really push myself to learn a new language, Influent would be a great option!