Trevor Burnham » games

Portal: Play it

Trevor — Wed, 12 May 2010 21:31:59 +0000

It’s been widely known for a while now that Valve was porting their smash hit Portal (among other games) to the Mac. Now here’s more: Until May 24th, it’s free. For Mac and PC alike.

Now, I’m not much of a gamer these days. But Portal may well be the greatest game of all time, a pure pleasure and a challenge. Its only flaw is that it’s too short, taking a mere four hours to play through. It’s to Valve’s credit that they didn’t add any filler just to extend the playing time, as is de rigueur in the game industry. The bar for Portal 2 has been set very, very high.

Calculus: The Videogame

Trevor — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:38:16 +0000

Last semester, I took a graduate-level course called Videogames and Learning, taught by Barry Fishman of the UMich Education department (who also teaches an undergrad version). Needless to say, the class is widely beloved, despite its dense syllabus of readings on the theory of learning and motivation. I decided to write my final paper on the question, “Why aren’t there any games that teach calculus?” (At least, not any successful ones.) There are some terrific games, like the Zoombinis series, that teach basic logic; and there are some compelling games, like the free online Lure of the Labyrinth, that teach arithmetic and algebra; but no one seems to have made a game that goes past the 8th-grade level. At the same time, no one has made an educational game as rich and immersive as, say, Mass Effect, a game so slick and well-written that it’s like living in the best sci-fi movie since The Empire Strikes Back.

Over time, I realized that this was not a topic conducive to academic publishing, so the project drifted from a research paper to a design one. The result is an attempt to describe how a game could be made to teach calculus, proof methodology, and ways of mathematical thinking—all within the context of a gripping adventure. The paper is called Math Effect. I hope you enjoy it. And if you’re a game designer, I hope it gives you ideas.

Math Effect

Game of the Year

Trevor — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:02:18 +0000

I frivoled away most of my high school years on video games. Fortunately, I managed to overcome that particular addiction and learn to do other things with my spare time—like read books and make websites for instance. Still, I’ve maintained an interest in games for their remarkable ability to keep the attention of even the most frazzled Gen Y-er. So when the opportunity to take a graduate-level course entitled “Video Games and Learning” from the UMich Education department came up, my first thought—after the requisite bemoaning of the state of American education today—was: How can I refuse?

I’ll talk more about that course later, but for now I want to name the best game of 2009: Machinarium. While the innovative mechanics of the indie darling platformer Braid made it the best game of 2008, Machinarium represents a delightful throwback to the simple, story-driven adventure games of the ‘90s, combined with mind-bending puzzles that rise to the level of such classics as Myst. It’s kid-friendly, has a unique visual style, and offers a clever solution to the patience-trying ruts that sunk the adventure genre to second-tier status: a “walkthrough book” built into the game, always available in the upper-right corner, that requires you to complete a one-minute mini-game to open it, ensuring that you only consult it when really, truly stuck.

But what impressed me most about Machinarium, which was painstakingly developed over the course of three years by a handful of Czech developers, is the superb way it tells a rich, involving story without words. In a world where video game stories are usually crafted by gluing clichés together into a long, tired strings, Machinarium is truly a breath of fresh air.

A close runner-up is Tales of Monkey Island. It not only revitalizes the long-dormant Monkey Island franchise; it’s the best in the series, full of cute laughs and clever challenges. Telltale Games has established itself as the Pixar of modern adventure games, creating one high-quality, whimsical, family-oriented game after another. Tales of Monkey Island is available as part of the Telltale Everything Pack on Steam, which is an unbelievable value (in terms of $/game-minute).

If there’s one thing my game addiction taught me, it’s that you should never waste time on having the same experience twice. Playing Bejeweled yet again is pointless. Games, just like books and movies, are worthwhile in proportion to the amount of sheer imagination that went into them. I’m glad to report that the simple, story-driven adventure game is alive and well. The best games of 2009 are triumphs of storytelling.