MathTrek alternate reality gamers ask for more roleplay...

[Maria Droujkova]

MathTrek is an alternative reality game about "growing math eyes" through photography. The information about the first five games, and slideshows by topic quests are here http://naturalmath.wikispaces.com/MathTrekResearchTriangle

For example, here is the last list of quests:

And here are a couple of photos from that day, which go with quests 3 and 5:





From observing the first five games, it became clear that finding and photographing math does not absorb the majority of players' attention. It is a good background activity for other things, and it can be played here and there in 2-minute snatches, and it enriches families mathematically, but it does become a background if you try and spend an hour at a time on it. MathTrek was originally based on photographer games played in their professional communities, which assume keener interest in photography than is sustainable in general population week in and week out.

I will probably convert the original design into a global game where people subscribe to a weekly email and do quests in little snippets, as a part of their daily life. But what can work as a field trip activity?

We had a very productive brainstorm with parents about incorporating the other things we want to do

• Play with the environment (especially in museums)
• Climb, run, parkour
• Chase one another and otherwise physically play together
• ROLEPLAY - stay in character, spin stories together
• Discuss and compare math, argue definitions
• Discuss the role of the game in learning (currently parents only)

How can we invite kids to do all the above? The structure of the game will have to change. Suggestions that came up so far:

• Scavenger hunts with sequences of clues, where each found clue unlocks the next quest
• Story prompts where kids can gather at key points and incorporate found math into their roleplayed stories
• Invite kids, in turns, to prompt the next leg of the game

If you have ideas of how to play this, PLEASE MAKE SUGGESTIONS on game mechanics, quests, implementation or anything else.

Games and activities I am now researching for ideas:

• Geocaching
• Letterboxing
• Yarnbombing and other "kind graffiti" games
  
• Photo Treasure Hunt
• Parkour treks and artistic competitions
  
• Russian extreme city games (Stalker, Night Watch, and especially photography gameplay from Encounter)
  
• Ko's Journey math RPG
  
• Dungeons and Dragons, Legends of Druidawn writing game

We will try a few things tomorrow.

Cheers,
Maria Droujkova

Make math your own, to make your own math.