SquareSale Product Knowledge Training Game
Welcome to SquareSale Academy! For this project, I wanted to create a “serious game” that displayed solid adherence to game design principles. Ideally, SquareSale would be used in an online training environment. The learning approach is based on simulating online sales inquiries and it takes the form of a branching narrative game. The overall goal of the game is to create a basis of product knowledge that will help online Square sales representatives make informed product recommendations.
Tools used:
Twine, Adobe InDesign, StoryboardThat
I started this game design by researching tech companies with interesting product lines. From there, I honed in on using Square products and created the outline for the flow of the narrative. Building a storyboard was the most valuable part of planning because I employed the same program to create my game’s visuals. I created SquareSale in Twine using the story format Harlowe. The narrative revolves around learning about three POS products and then recommending them to three customers. Players are prompted to ask questions and are rewarded product knowledge badges when they make correct recommendations. They are given corrective feedback when they make an incorrect product suggestion.
I used peer feedback from my first prototype to try to strengthen the game by increasing the difficulty and giving more space for player decisions. My first iteration gave all of the information away to players for free, but this final version makes players seek out product information and client specifications in a way that involves some strategy and connecting-the-dots. I think the added rigor enhances the game tremendously. I also upgraded the badging format, enabled compatibility across devices, and added some complexity to the branching narratives in my final edit. All of these adaptations were implemented through the use of Javascript code.
The biggest strengths of the game are its strong visuals, sound narrative, emphasis on player choice, and clear corrective feedback. I wanted to create a narrative-based game that didn’t overwhelm players with large chunks of text, which I definitely accomplished.
I learned a lot from the experience of creating and coding SquareSale… First and foremost, engaging narrative games that also promote learning goals are not simple to produce. Another key takeaway is that I shouldn’t be afraid of challenging players if the learning and game mechanics are sound, in fact, that area of “pleasantly frustrating” challenge is where they will thrive most. I also came to realize that different platforms support different goals… Although I felt the limitations of Twine at points during development, I still believe it was the best choice for this particular project.
Thank you for checking out Square Sale! Best of luck making sales.
Details
Storyboard
I used StoryboardThat and AdobeXD to layout the narrative and create the game visuals. I wanted them to feel realistic, but playful to match the energy of the game play.
Twine Development
Once my narrative was written and my storyboard was complete, I moved into the development stage. I employed Twine, an open-source tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories, as my development platform. I selected Harlowe 3.3.4. as my story format due to its numerous programming features and the rich passage editor it employs. I laid out the branching narrative format of SquareSale, using Javascript code to customize it with variables, conditional logic, and images.
Corrective Feedback
SquareSale is a simulation game that is designed to help employee’s solidify and apply product knowledge in a sales setting. Thus, it was critical for me to provide thoughtful corrective feedback that did not penalize players. After players read the client inquiry and ask clients one question about their needs, they must decide which product to recommend. When they select an option that isn’t the right fit, the client offers corrective feedback and offers them the opportunity to sell them a different product. They are prompted to review the product line before making another selection, which is a prime opportunity for review.
Special Features
My biggest accomplishment and personal victory during the development phase was figuring out how to use conditional logic to narrow the path choices users will encounter as they get deeper into the game narrative. Using a combination of if/then, else/else, and true/false statements, I was able to eliminate paths and close any cascading choices that could be present due to backtracking or shared paths of future responses. This enabled the game to essentially “remember” what customers had been helped and what badges had been earned, which is meant to enhance the experience of flow for players.
