During my tenure at Media.Monks, I collaborated with Mandai Wildlife Group to develop an award-winning gamified experience for the Singapore Zoo. Our interdisciplinary team included designers, artists, technologists, and wildlife experts.
As the primary game designer in the project's early stages, I helped shape the experience's core concepts and designed both digital and physical interactions. As the team expanded, I crafted mission flows and educational mini-games across platforms. Additionally, I contributed to defining the world, characters, and dialogue for the project.
Ranger Buddies Quest
December 2021 - January 2023
Role: Game and Narrative Designer
Platform: Binoculars and Outposts (proprietary)
Engine: Unity
Team Size: 60
Duration: 1 year
Release: November 2023
Access: Book your experience here.
Experience Overview
Ranger Buddies Quest is an alternate reality location-based interactive experience designed for young players to learn about different animal species and planet conversation. The experience comprised digital games on first-of-its-kind devices and physical interactions to be played within one of Singapore's largest wildlife parks.
Players choose various missions each with its theme and complete related activities. These activities involve players traveling to different parts of the park to play games on a pair of binoculars or outposts at fixed locations.
Roles and responsibilities
Game Design
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Conceptualized original gamified experience from the ground up, with a focus on a cohesive multi-platform experience.
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Designed and pitched to high-level stakeholders over 30 unique minigames, each with a learning objective.
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Collaborated with the development team to align assets and features with the creative director's vision.
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Implemented a progression system to enhance player retention and drive repeat visits to the park.
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Interpreted and implemented playtesters' feedback to improve gameplay through multiple iterative cycles.
Narrative Design
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Pitched and built the overall world of the game, as well as developed the overarching narrative and learning objectives of 10 unique missions.
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Led writer's room to craft scripts, dialogue, and characters to build drama and enhance the core experience of the game.
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Wrote dialogue, in-game menu text, and characterizations of NPCs.
Design Core Pillars
Pillars that guided our decisions about the user experience and the games within it.
Learning through play
Whenever possible, our players should achieve their learning goals through playing a game or interacting with an activity engaging their senses, rather than reading text or watching a video.
Tech as a platform
We use digital technology as a tool to evoke curiosity about the physical world, and the digital games in our activities are focused on emphasizing the wonder of animals.
Growth mindset
We encourage growth through trial-and-error and experimentation, never punishing players for giving a 'wrong' answer.
Binoculars Activity Example
Being the first tutorial activity, we chose to use a maze mini-game to teach players how to use the D-pad and a navigation task to encourage the use of their binoculars.
We then challenge players to make use of their sense of touch and smell, making the binoculars rumble when they've reached the location and prompting them to wonder where an otter's scent comes from.
We encouraged players to be curious about their surroundings and the use of their binoculars by placing hidden symbols around the park, which rewarded the player should they spot them.
Outpost Activities Examples
With Outpost activities, we could develop more dynamic games on a larger touch-screen. This game taught players how to use the drag-and-drop gesture and encouraged creative problem-solving.
Encouraging experimentation and a growth mindset as our principles, we designed games that had no fail states and promoted self-expression.
Our games also challenged players to move outside their comfort zones and make connections between themselves and the animals they were learning about
Reflection takeaways
Ranger Buddies Quest was my first project working on a large team with different companies, and it taught me invaluable lessons on game development and communication. Here are a few of them summarized:
Define a Clear Creative Northstar: It's crucial to establish a creative northstar by collectively defining a problem statement. This ensures alignment within the team, prevents feature creep, and maintains a consistent focus throughout development.
Sprint Towards a Minimal Viable Product: Shorter development sprints toward a working prototype, whether digital or paper, are essential. Early testing helps uncover unforeseen issues, allowing for timely adjustments and avoiding resource constraints during later comprehensive tests.
Understand Your Audience: Deep research on the player demographic, especially for 4-10-year-olds, is vital. Consider preferences, such as interaction patterns and creative engagement, as we observed that younger players respond more to visuals and sound than text-based instructions.
Beware of Content Bloat: More content doesn't always mean a better game. Managing the pace of content delivery and incorporating repetition, especially in educational games, helps prevent player fatigue and enhances learning absorption.
Use Existing Data for Resolving Differences: When facing creative differences with clients, presenting existing data on similar matters can be persuasive. This approach proved effective in advocating for inclusivity, such as offering more gender identity options in the game.
Utilize Narrative Design to Break Silos: Working remotely can lead to silos and misalignment. Regular meetings, updating team leads, and aligning with the overall narrative direction help maintain cohesion, foster collaboration, and prevent creative decisions from going astray. Seeking input from team members enhances understanding and commitment to the game's goals.
