Dorothy LeeCognition and Handheld Devices

7/30/14

What is Badland?

Badland is a multiple award-winning game, created by Frogmind, that was originally released on the iPhone and iPad in early

2013. It is now available on Android devices.

Still don’t know what it’s about and how it’s played? Don’t worry, the game is even more delightful that way.

[SPOILER ALERT! If you don’t want to ruin the pleasantly surprising mystery of the game, go download it and play it

before reading on!]

After the first level loads, you see a magical backdrop and the dark silhouettes of some mysterious stuff spewed out of a large portal. Nothing further

happens and no instruction of any sort is provided.

Naturally, you’re confused and begin tapping the screen, which causes one of the mysterious black objects to hop – holding your finger down causes it to

levitate. The screen begins to scroll to the right, and you must keep your puffball flying forward to stay in the screen.

This is the only control in the game!

• Simple controls minimize extraneous cognitive load and make the game easy to learn

• The germane cognitive load of the game design accesses the player’s internalized schema and intuition about gravity and motion

• Because of the simplicity of the controls and objectives (get through the level without the screen catching up), players’ working memories are minimally burdened, allowing them to enjoy the experience

In successive levels, you are slowly introduced to different power-ups, which you learn to master and strategize with through trial and error. These power-ups can:• Alter the puff’s size

In successive levels, you are slowly introduced to different power-ups, which you learn to master and strategize with through trial and error. These power-ups can:• Alter the puff’s size• “Clone” or multiply your puff

And eventually, multiple types of power-ups begin appearing within levels (potentially with new ones introduced).

Scaffolding : Simple Complex

• Slowly and individually introducing each power-up until the player has had sufficient experience to understand its use

• This learning design is valuable because:– Introducing too many elements too quickly can overwhelm the player– It allows for learning differentiation (players who catch on quickly can

move onto the next level, players who require more practice can repeat the level as many times as they want)

– Players can learn how to play the game without an explicit tutorial or instruction (boring!)