Build It South Africa

Sognalo, programmalo, costruiscilo.

The purpose of a game app for Build it

• Build it is a large group of owner run building material and hardware stores in South Africa and is part of the Spar group of companies. They are a caring company and want to assist their customers to achieve their building objectives. They commissioned the build of a game app with the following objectives in mind

• To create a free game app as an amusing and entertaining way to encourage members of the public to interact with the Build it brand.

• To create an Android version of the game.

• To embed in the game a clear target to win, and generate excitement to meet that challenge as the game progresses.

• To utilize rewards for game performance as a way of driving game participants into Build it stores.

What game app type was envisaged

• The game simulates the building of a house on a serviced platform of land.

• The house builder is going to build a house with a lot of assistance from his local Build it owner and Build it partners.

• Along the way there will be obstacles and the house builder will have to make decisions as to how to address these obstacles. Good decision making will be rewarded and poor decisions will be penalized.

• The player must get into the role of the house builder and keep the project on track and must become absorbed in it.

The result must be a realistic “Build a House” game app

• To be realistic a game app must simulate the “touch and feel” of the simulated live scenario.

• The app must generate the “busyness” factor of real life.

• The app must not replicate the same numerate or time based challenge in consecutive plays of the game.

• The “height of the bar” (degree of difficulty) must progress as the player becomes more experienced in the game-play methodology.

• Artificial intelligence must be employed to set “hurdles” consistent with the players previous ability to overcome hurdle challenges.

• All data necessary to play the game must be able to be downloaded with the game app.

How did we assess the realism factor.

• We created a real live model of the challenge. In this model we should

• Created a time and cost plan for building a house.

• Identified the characters in the game.

• Identified the data required to operate the real life plan.

• Scaled all the aspects of the real life characteristics to the game duration and complexity and determine if the simulation works.

• The resultant game was developed according to these objectives and the model.