Scene-driver: a narrative-driven game architecture reusing broadcast animation content

Currently there is much interest in the development of computer and DVD-based games and activities that supplement or are marketed alongside broadcast television content. Scene-Driver was developed for the purpose of reusing content from an animated children's television series within the context of a narratively coherent game. Content from the children's television series "Tiny Planets" was used in the development and testing of Scene-Driver. Each episode of the series has been divided into a collection of scenes, each of which represents a narrative unit such as conflict introduction and resolution. The game is aimed at children of the ages 5-7 and an interface has been developed which can be intuitively used by children of this age. This interface takes the form of "domino-like" tiles which depict characters and objects from the television series (unlike ordinary dominoes that have numbers on either side). The tiles can be played according to different game rules. The child's choice of tile influences the direction of a narrative. The game and interface have been tested with children of the target age range in two evaluation studies. Both studies demonstrated the potential of Scene-Driver to produce engaging narratively coherent games using children's animation content.