Falmouth University is joining Now Play This online with two game prototypes developed by Bethany Collinge and Mateo San Miguel Cabrera
As part of the MA Game Design, students take GAM712, a rapid prototyping module where they develop three prototypes over seven weeks, each based on a different theme. Bethany Collinge ’s project was created around the theme of metaphor, incorporating folk games as an optional design constraint. The resulting prototype explores the expressive potential of folk-inspired mechanics in a digital context.
Meanwhile, in GAM713 Experimental Game Design focuses on serious and artistic games. Mateo San Miguel Cabrera, an international student from Peru, developed a narrative-based puzzle game aimed at teaching and preserving the Quechua language. While not a folk game in the traditional sense, Matteo’s project aligns with the festival’s themes by engaging with cultural preservation, oral traditions, and the role of play in safeguarding intangible heritage.
Both prototypes are experimental works in progress, reflecting the students’ engagement with folk games and game design as a means of cultural expression. Their inclusion in the festival highlights the evolving relationship between folk traditions and contemporary game development.
Both modules are directed by Dr. Jeff Howard, an Associate Professor of Games and Occulture at Falmouth University, specializing in the intersection of games, occultism, and esoteric traditions. A scholar and practitioner, he has written extensively on game design, including Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives and Game Magic: A Designer’s Guide to Magic Systems in Theory and Practice. His work explores play as a transformative experience, making him a key voice in discussions about folk games, mythology, and ritual in game design.
About the games:
WOLF AND SHEEP (AND TROLL!)
Wolf and Sheep (and Troll!) is a metaphor for online abuse and bullying that incorporates the classic tag folk game, Wolf and Sheep into a fun arcade-like experience combining the mechanics of Vampire Survivors and Defender. While the game itself is fun to play, the player increasingly realises that if they escalate the online war of ideas, things only get worse for everyone!
About the game design process
The game was built in a four-week period for a module that came with the constraints of metaphor and folk game. In researching folk games, I came across the Nordic tag game ‘Wolf and Sheep’ where the wolf tags a number of sheep and has them join their side. The Nordic roots made me think of trolls and so the metaphorical idea was suddenly clear to me.
I first made a world occupied by children who have fun lives playing football, dancing, playing hide and seek and going to school and home. Into this, I added a player who could tag them and take them back to their camp, where over time, they become grey and appear aggressive. They are definitely not having fun now!
In the second phase, I added trolls, who have a similar objective. The trolls make classic online troll insults and attempt to bully the player out of the game whilst also recruiting children to their cause. The player can challenge the trolls initially by firing questions at them and later through power ups by giving them the cold shoulder, surrounding them in ‘warm fuzzies’ or fending them off with a defensive attitude!
Ultimately, the only way to win the game is to defeat trolls and never take anyone back to your camp during a level! Most players don’t do this and have fun but end up making a chaotic world that is far from the idyllic starting point.
Bethany Collinge
I am a 29 year old British Fine Artist who has been working on games since 2021. I am passionate about making experiences that are both fun and meaningful. Most of my games feature my hand-drawn art style and I’m always seeking innovative ways to combine this with different game genres and styles.
You can play the game here: https://gx.games/games/d8r1n6/wolf-and-sheep-and-troll-/
PALLQA SIMI
Pallqa Simi is a short, text-based experience set at the start of the Spanish conquest of Perú. You (a Spanish scout) venture into the Andes to find Domingo de Tovar, a previous scout who hasn’t returned from an expedition. Shortly into your journey, you meet a Chasqui, a messenger from the Inca empire, and with his help you learn the basics of the Quechua language.
About the game design process
By using context clues, deductive reasoning, and conjecture, players must interpret and learn Quechua to the best of their abilities to navigate the peculiar circumstances their character finds themselves in and rescue Domingo.
The idea for Pallqa Simi came from a mix between my interest in language decipherment games like Chants of Sennaar and my Peruvian background. While I never had much direct exposure to Peruvian cultures or history (apart from school), I always knew that one day I wanted to make a game to explore and learn more about them and give players a glimpse into them, hopefully piquing their interest.
I really enjoyed working on the game despite the tremendous amount of effort that it took to understand the basics of a new language enough to be able to teach it to others through gameplay in a limited timeframe. I am confident in the authenticity of the representation of Quechua in Pallqa Simi, but I have to make clear that I did not have access to primary sources for translations and that the game should not be treated as a primary source for language learning.
The goal of the project isn’t to teach Quechua, but rather to raise awareness of the language and its native roots, help preserve Quechua through the medium of video games, and to attempt a natlang-based approach at language decipherment games, which could inspire future games in the genre to use natlangs, with the purpose of making language learning more ‘fun’ or simply allowing different avenues for language learning in general, through video games, in this case.
Mateo San Miguel Cabrera
I’m a 23 year old Peruvian game designer, and I’ve been making games for as long as I can remember. I love making (and playing!) all kinds of games, but particularly ones that inspire curiosity, creativity, make you think and pay attention. With experience in music and programming, I try to give my all to each project and use my skills to make it the best it can be
Staty tunned for the link to play the game
Falmouth University Games Academy
