Idea 1: Road Rush
This game is similar to crossy road or frogger in the sense that you must cross an infinite line of roads but it would also have educational elements about road safety within it. Instead of simply avoiding cars, you will have to use the correct and safest method of crossing and do it quickly in order to avoid a scrolling screen that will end the game if it catches up with you. This helps to not only make the game more educational and interactive but it will also make it much more dynamic and addictive due to the use of high scores and leader boards that will also be implemented. The game will function by WASD controls so it will be easy for all people regardless of gaming ability level to control the main character. I wanted my game to have a very friendly, light-hearted feel to it so it will have quite bright, pixilated graphics because I like and enjoy the style as well as the fact that pixilated graphics will probably be much easier to work with when it comes to making walk-sprites and backgrounds
For every road that you manage to cross safely, you will get a point. You must cross at the safest place on the road in order to avoid death and losing the game, however, you must not cross on parts on the road that are deemed unsafe due to hazards such as ice, potholes or cracks in the road or else you will die and not get a high score. The main character’s name is Sidney, she is very cute and appeals to a younger audience and due to the unique art style she appeals to teenagers too. She is female but doesn’t look too feminine so she will appeal to both boys and girls. To fit in with the frogger/Crossy road theme, the game could have different characters that you could play as such as other people or other animals.
Idea 2: Granny Crossing
The objective of this game is to guide children across a road safely in a quick-thinking, puzzle style environment. The player must clear the course of a road for a band of children to cross under a certain amount of time. To do this, you must do things such as pressing the button on a pelican crossing, divert the woman away from pot holes and traffic as well as timing your crossing over roads with no safety features in order to avoid cars. There are many levels in the game and you will get a rank and a certain amount of stars for how well/quickly you complete the level. You can cash in stars for power ups such as flashing shoes and florescent jackets that will help you in a game situation or on a certain level. Although the game does not have any quiz-style elements, the player is gaining knowledge of how to cross a road safely due to the puzzle elements incorporated into the game. If you do not manage to safely escort one of the children across the road, a death animation will play based on how the child dies (e.g. Doesn’t cross the road in time and the child gets run over) This helps to set the game with a much darker tone which will make it much more memorable and educational as it shows the real consequences for not crossing the road safely. They will not be too graphic as this is a kid’s game. As the game progresses, the levels will become quirkier and out-there in order to avoid repetition because crossing the same mundane road over and over again will get really boring.
The character that you play as is a girl scout called Alex who helps children to cross the road. Although the main character is female, the game is targeted at all genders and makes up for its femininity with quite an action/puzzle style of gameplay. Her design was inspired by games such as Earthbound, Splatoon and Animal Crossing because of their distinct yet familiar art styles that will be well received by children due to the large eyes, bright colours and overall cuteness in their design. Alex’s colours will be Blue for her shirt and cap with light yellow for her shorts, shoes and hair. I chose pastel colours because I felt that they stuck with the colours of the games that they were deprived from and they are also very bright and appealing to children as well as her talksprite having very soft, thick lines.