The story behind Brain Bump Trivia Game for Kindle

When I heard that the Amazon's Kindle was going to offer third-party created "Active Content" -- I was immediately drawn to the opportunity and possibility of designing a game on a device designed for one of my passions in life: reading.

I was an early reader, and that love of reading, and ultimately, as a by-product, learning, really was an anchor in my life. As a child, when I realized that by merely picking up a book I could learn how to become anything I wanted to become in the world (even pilot the Space Shuttle!), and I could witness a million things through the words of others I could not experience in my day-to-day existence, I was hooked on analog reading.

When I had my first 300 baud modem in the 1980s, and dialed up to connect to a library and downloaded information at will, my passion for learning helped me readily accept digital reading right away. This was a powerful opportunity to feed my continued yearning for new information; however, staring at a computer monitor was not great for the eyes.

Reading a printed page was still a superior interface to digital reading for my eyes at that point. For me physical print remained superior for reading until the advent of Amazon's e-Ink technology and Kindle platform.

Digital reading had truly, and has finally, arrived.

I have spent my professional career largely building and making computer games (or teaching others how to make them). Actively reading and learning about new technology allowed me to adapt, on a more or less constant basis, so that I could be an effective professional in terms of the nuts and bolts of the labor required to deliver results to employers. In 2009 I decided I would try my hand at making an iPhone game which was a port of a simple puzzle game I made for the PC called Bloink. The first thing I did was go out to the local book store and buy a few iPhone developer books (at the time of Bloink's development the iPhone App Store was still less than a year old -- but VERY hot, and plenty of people were writing books on the topic). I was able to complete the game, based in part on my drive for "constant education" in the materials I used to learn how to make the game.

I had the opportunity to join the Kindle Development Kit program in 2010, and while I was not entirely sure what I wanted to develop at the start, I was eager to make a game that really immersed itself in the spirit of the player's use of the Kindle device. Since development for the Kindle requires Java programming, the first thing I had to do was become familiar with Java again (I had used it years previous, but was quite stale). Instead of going to the physical bookstore, this time I opened up the Kindle Store on the device, and was able to quickly select a few books that might be helpful with developing for the platform. Computer books tend to be bulky, heavy and oversized in all regards, so I managed to buy not only Java books but a slew of other reference books I frequent (and I can use the Kindle reader software on my PC to see the books anywhere I happened to be!).

In my view, making a game for the Kindle had some basic challenges. People use the device to enjoy books first and foremost, not to play hard-core games. The display technology does not make itself appropriate for the kinds of action games more easily rendered on LCD-display style device. I decided to synthesize these challenges and the result is evident in my first game for the Kindle called Brain Bump.

In short, Brain Bump is a trivia game about books. This solves the problems I mentioned because trivia games are turn-based affairs, with a posed question and prompt for an answer. This play mechanic could be executed without needing intense real-time graphic animation. And the physical content -- literature trivia -- is appealing to readers and book lovers, and people interested in writers and reading. With my main challenges solved, I saw a powerful new opportunity in this mixture of things which came to me as I was going through the design process.

Here's the extra piece that makes Brain Bump more than just a standard trivia game. During the course of play, imagine that you encounter a trivia question about a Stephen King novel you've never had the chance to read...but are interested in reading at some point. On the game screen I added an option called "Explore this question in the Kindle Store" -- at any time during play, the trivia questions can lead to you adding books to your Kindle you've always been interested in reading but never got around to reading. When you return to the game on the device, it carries on play right where you were when you clicked the button. Suddenly, a standard trivia game now has become a tool for growth, exploration and learning.

This may lead to players going out and searching for the right answers as they play -- that would be a great thing.

I hope that Brain Bump encourages reading, exploration and learning in players. If it does that, it may be the most important game I've ever made.

Go here to get Brain Bump Literature Trivia Game, as it is now available from Amazon.com!

Official Brain Bump game site is here: http://www.brainbumpgame.com/

Tribeca Flashpoint Academy -- Early Decision

My nephew was recently given "Early Decision" acceptance to Duke. Obviously I was thrilled, as he is a talented and bright guy, with a world full of potential. He's still not sure exactly what he wants to do in the world, which is fine...Duke will be a great place for him to get his bearings and get grounded in the first or second direction he'll take in life. But if he had any interest in pursuing digital media arts, I would have encouraged him and his parents to get thier own "Early Decision" to attend Tribeca Flashpoint Academy in Chicago.

I'm slightly partial to Tribeca Flashpoint as I spent several years teaching at the school, but I have incredible faith in their program and the team running the institution -- had my nephew shown interest in becoming a digial media professional, getting an "Early Decision" acceptance into the program at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy would have impressed an already proud uncle even more.

If you are a parent, in particular, check out this recent video they posted: watch it on Vimeo now.

WMS Gaming one of Chicago's TOP places to work in 2010

I'm thrilled to report that the Chicago Tribune has rated WMS Gaming the TOP company to work for in 2010! Read the report here!

I've been working in one of WMS's internal game studios since July, and everything this article mentions is spot on!

Visit the WMS website to learn more about the company and also about job opportunities there.

Also named by Forbes as one of the top 100 small companies of 2010 -- check out the Forbes list here.

Opportunities to work for a leading gaming company in Chicago

Are you an experienced developer interested in working for a leading gaming company in Chicago?

If you know anyone who might be interested in lead or senior level programming positions out there, check out this link (there are other positions as well in management, production, art dev and more).

http://www.wms.com/Careers/Pages/default.aspx

I've been working with WMS since July and can truly attest to the quality of work and people over here. They are really smart and talented people and truly have stablished an extraordinarily positive and supportive work environment. Check out http://www.wms.com for more information.

Summer 2010 Update

Hello! I just wanted to mention here that I recently wrapped up three years at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy as Department Chair of Game & Interactive Media development. Tribeca Flashpoint is an amazing digital media arts college in downtown Chicago. It is a one-of-a-kind place and I was enormously fortunate to help launch the school and establish a competitive educational program in the area of game development and interactive media.

In moving on to my next adventures, I am working this summer for WMS Gaming, one of the leading developers and manufacturers of gaming machines in the world (they are known for hit slot machines found in gaming venues around the world. It is a publicly traded company, so I can't talk about anything related to what I'm doing there or what is going on, but you can learn more about it at the WMS Games website.

As a further note, I am eager to continue my own development efforts (now working on the e-reader Kindle platform!), working on some original music I will publish on iTunes later this year, and probably some writing and art to throw in the mix. I am also still pursuing speaking engagements and other activities in the interactive entertainment space, so those of you who are interested in working with me can best contact me through Linked In.

If you want a little sneak peek at a personal project I'm working on, please visit Fanmillion.com!