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Orbit Science Apps Expedition: Big Brook Co-Located User Research Illustration

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kristen.n.cenci@gmail.com

Expedition: Big Brook

game design | illustration | art book

Who needs a game about fossils?

Big Brook is a Cretaceous fossil site in central New Jersey. Among its many visitors each year are summer programs and day camps. I accompanied a group of elementary school students to Big Brook during my time at the American Museum of Natural History.

We received a greyscale handout of labeled fossil photos before visiting Big Brook. While informative, a piece of paper was a dull and one dimensional introduction to the experience for the students. To increase engagement, I developed an introductory minigame and designed a field guide for Big Brook.

The Game

Main menu

The tutorial level introduces the player to the controls and provides a brief description of all the fossils in the game.

AMNH campers inspired the character design.

The goal of the main level is to sift as many blocks as possible in under a minute to discover randomly generated fossils.

In the last identification level, students match the fossil illustrations to more realistic imagery to align their digital experience to the field trip.

At first it seems like a piddly dribble through the farmlands of rural New Jersey, but careful observation shows that Big Brook is a glass-bottom boat, sailing through a Cretaceous sea, busy with life."

New York Paleontological Society

The Field Guide

Field guide cover made from mock slate

Inside cover. Fossil ID tabs are color coded and ordered by rarity.

Inside spreads include an illustration and description of the organism, as well as a note for finding it a Big Brook.

Site info spread