The Project - An Overview
EvoWords is a gamified vocabulary application that I developed during my Bachelor’s thesis. A lot of background research about the theory of memory, learning and gamification had been made before the concepting phase. Everything – from the concept to art, animations and coding – was made by me.
EvoWords is an ongoing project and still being updated from time to time.
In EvoWords, the user can input their own vocabulary. Each word is represented by a flower seed, which will slowly evolve according to the spaced repetition system. Which each new stage the flower – and at the same time the user’s knowledge about the word – will develop.
Gamification and Game Design
So, what is this mystical gamification?
Gamification is the method of integrating game elements and game thinking into tasks and activities which inherently are not games. Its goal is to engage and motivate people as well as to promote learning and problem solving. By applying gamification to learning and practicing vocabulary my aim was to develop an educational yet entertaining application.
Moreover, it was also important to me to make use of the Spaced Repetition System (SRS). The SRS utilizes spaced out vocabulary reviews with increasing intervals.
After a lot of concepting, I developed the most promising concept further: EvoWords.
In EvoWords, each flower is represented by a flower. To keep up the variety of possible flowers, they consist of different modules.
Furthermore, 4 separate word types were created, into which the vocabulary is categorized. Each of those types has a unique visual flower.
Everything got combined in a farm setting and with an overarching story. Moreover, as many effects and little interaction options as possible were implemented.
Try for yourself!
Check out the game on the Google Play Store by clicking on the image on the left!