Presentation for Games: Creating Connections at the 2012 American Association of Museums Meeting in Minneapolis. (Slides with notes: http://www.slideshare.net/georginab/pheon-one-game-two-platforms-mixed-success-12791885)

1. Georgina Goodlander
Web & Social Media Content Mgr
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GoodlanderG@si.edu
@bathlander

2. www.ghostsofachance.com
www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2009/papers/goodlander/

3. One Game
Two Platforms
Mixed Success

5. Evaluation Reports w/UXR Consulting
Facebook Game
Alternate-Reality Games in Casual Gaming
Environments
tinyurl.com/pheonfacebook
In-Museum Game
21st Century Skills, Museum Literacy, and Enjoyment
in Museums
tinyurl.com/pheonmuseum

6. The online game

7. 68 people played.
Cost per player = $500+
:(

8. Problem #1: Narrative
“[The missions] could have been tied more tightly into
the narrative; as it stands, it didn't feel much different
from ordinary Facebook postings.”
“I didn't understand how or if [the missions] related to
the gameplay and the storyline of Terra Tectus.”

9. Problem #2: FACEBOOK
“Facebook games tend to have a lot of busywork with
little enjoyment or reward, so there needs to be enough
information about the game […] to get me into it.”
“… I do not like the idea of games/contests/etc. relying
on Facebook as it results in exclusion of those of us who
don't like Facebook.”
“… playing an ARG via Facebook seems rather lame.
Kind of takes the punch out of it.”
“Facebook sucks.”

10. Problem #3: Marketing
“Never heard of or played the game so far. The idea is
intriguing…”
“I haven't ever heard or played PHEON, but I think it
would be interesting to play a game like this…”
“I did not know of it, and this type of game seems
inaccessible to me. Descriptions of this type of game
are often vague, and I don't know how to get involved.”
“I'd want to know more about it. I'm still a little fuzzy
on what it all means.”

11. The on site game

12. 21st Century Skills &
Museum Literacy
:)

13. 21st Century Skills: Technology literacy
“I liked the interactiveness with the phone, but
also how the game wasn’t just texting. The
game didn’t rely too heavily on the phone, but
instead included art and other clues.”

14. 21st Century Skills: Trial and error
Player 1: This doesn’t make
any sense.
Player 2: I think I can actually
picture the painting they are
talking about.
Player 1: We could text them a
random guess and see what
comes back.
They try a random text which
fails and they both laugh.
Player 2: Random text guess.
[shakes head and laughs]

15. 21st Century Skills: Re-reading and re-considering
Teamwork

16. 21st Century Skills: Talking to strangers
Inter-
generational
learning

17. Museum Literacy: Engaging with staff

18. Museum Literacy: Connecting with art
“Some of the clues felt very engaging and
it was fun to know that others in the
Museum shared my inexperience with the
subject matter rather than feeling
intimidated by the artwork or those who
understood it better than we did.”

19. Museum Literacy: Label reading & terminology

20. Museum Literacy: Connecting with museum as
space & assessing creature comforts
“Some of it was silly. It was an excuse to be silly in a museum”

21. Museum Literacy: Spatial Navigation & Orientation
“This map sucks!”

22. So, what do we know?
}:|
Facebook Game - tinyurl.com/pheonfacebook
In-Museum Game - tinyurl.com/pheonmuseum
Georgina Goodlander
GoodlanderG@si.edu
@bathlander