Discovering creators' dream features through desire paths

  • 26 January 2023
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EricGoosechase
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One of the ways our product and design teams have gotten inspiration for new features has been to look at where Goosechase creators’ desired outcomes clash against the edges of what our platform’s current capabilities allow. Similar to how urban planners often observe “Desire Paths” formed by the organic movement patterns of crowds through unpaved areas in order to decide where actual pathways should be paved in the future, I’m interested in finding out what “desire features” creators have been enabling using their own clever workarounds, that have allowed them to “hack” features into Goosechase that we might not even have known creators have wanted to use.

A few examples I’ve heard of in previous conversations with our creators:

  • Permission collection: 

    • Using a text mission worth 0 points in order to get their participants’ permission to use submitted photos or videos for marketing purposes.

  • Points for the fastest submissions: 

    • Including 0-point missions, and using the Dashboard panel to figure out who are the top X fastest submitters who deserve to be awarded bonus points.

  • Gated Missions: 

    • Creating an “unlockable mission” by not including instructions for how to complete it in the mission description directly, but instead printing out the instructions and only giving them to participants who reach a specific physical location to complete another mission first. (Props to @RetChaser for this idea!)

What are the most clever workaround “desire features” you’ve been using? Your tips and tricks might help another creator who wanted to accomplish the same outcome, and might even become something we officially add to Goosechase as a real feature in the future!

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CatRush
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I love the idea of a “Gated Mission”.  When using Goosechase for an alternative assignment, this would be a great way to control the pace or direction of the hunt.  I will have to try this in a professor’s course!

Dr. Cat Rushton
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#1 thing needed I believe is more “gating” options for the missions.
#2 would be Multi-threading the automation script so that it was not necessarily a single “file” path for the mission stages.

A

Great input @Tink69. Thanks for sharing. With regards to your second point. Can you elaborate on how you might want to see  “multi-threading the automation script” work? Or do you have an example of a flow chart that might illustrate the journey you’re currently seeing/wishing for?

MrBentley
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I also like the “gated” mission idea.

It got me thinking along the lines of an escape room puzzle.  Display a coded question. However the cipher to decode the question is found near locker #18 (the number of icons displayed about the question). The answer to the coded question would be the correct response to a text mission.

Eric Bentley, Elementary STEAM Teacher, Driver Education Teacher
MrBentley
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One of the ways our product and design teams have gotten inspiration for new features has been to look at where Goosechase creators’ desired outcomes clash against the edges of what our platform’s current capabilities allow. Similar to how urban planners often observe “Desire Paths” formed by the organic movement patterns of crowds through unpaved areas in order to decide where actual pathways should be paved in the future, I’m interested in finding out what “desire features” creators have been enabling using their own clever workarounds, that have allowed them to “hack” features into Goosechase that we might not even have known creators have wanted to use.

A few examples I’ve heard of in previous conversations with our creators:

  • Permission collection: 

    • Using a text mission worth 0 points in order to get their participants’ permission to use submitted photos or videos for marketing purposes.

  • Points for the fastest submissions: 

    • Including 0-point missions, and using the Dashboard panel to figure out who are the top X fastest submitters who deserve to be awarded bonus points.

  • Gated Missions: 

    • Creating an “unlockable mission” by not including instructions for how to complete it in the mission description directly, but instead printing out the instructions and only giving them to participants who reach a specific physical location to complete another mission first. (Props to @RetChaser for this idea!)

What are the most clever workaround “desire features” you’ve been using? Your tips and tricks might help another creator who wanted to accomplish the same outcome, and might even become something we officially add to Goosechase as a real feature in the future!

I tend to put my students in teams of three. Therefore, any of the three can complete a mission. However, sometimes one or two of the team members do most of the missions. 
my work around: For the missions I want everyone to do, I put a player number in the description. I assign every player a number (1,2 or 3). Students know that if there is a player number in the title, only THAT player may satisfy that mission.

Is it possible to create an option where a mission can be assigned to either the team (where any member may do) or to every team member?

🤞

Eric Bentley, Elementary STEAM Teacher, Driver Education Teacher
NerdlandiaPDX
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If this isn’t the right place to suggest new features, please disregard. I wasn’t sure where to post:

A feature that I think would be great is if Goosechase integrated with what3words. If you’re not familiar with what3words, it is a way to categorize a location (3 square meters) in terms of easy to use words, instead of coordinates. For example, the center of the desire path in the photo up there is at //falls.body.town. This is so useful for as a game designer for creating riddles, pointing out specific locations, and keeping track of locations in my head. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, but I use what3words all of the time and everyone I introduce to it, now also uses it all of the time.

If anyone wants any specific examples, let me know and I’ll share.

MrBentley
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@NerdlandiaPDX 

Curious. So, I found my home and clicked on several squares to see what words were used.

If I wanted to have my students find a location on our school property to find an item, how might you suggest I propose a mission that would lead to… ///jogs.listeners.keep

Eric Bentley, Elementary STEAM Teacher, Driver Education Teacher
MrBentley
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@Eric C @Craig Cordell @Mia @Alyshahn 

I think my favorite improvement Goosechase has made over the years is allowing the experience/game designer to allow players to submit pics/vids from their device. This allows my students who don’t have cellular service and who rely exclusively on wifi to go off the grid and gather mission responses that can later be uploaded when wifi is available.

 

Wishlist:

Is it possible to include Immersive Reader as a option for my pre-readers (Kindergarten-2nd grade)?

Is it possible for me, the experience/game designer to be able to identify which player submitted a particular mission? This would be quite helpful in determining which team members are (and are not) doing their share of the missions. I wonder if it also might be useful for other players to see which player submitted a mission in the feed.

Is it possible for missions to be tagged so that filters (in addition to point value, ABC) could sort and group for easier mission management?

Eric Bentley, Elementary STEAM Teacher, Driver Education Teacher
NerdlandiaPDX
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@NerdlandiaPDX

Curious. So, I found my home and clicked on several squares to see what words were used.

If I wanted to have my students find a location on our school property to find an item, how might you suggest I propose a mission that would lead to… ///jogs.listeners.keep

I find that a series of crossword clues can be very helpful.

  1. Gentle runs that can also mean slight nudges in memory. (4)
  2. Those who are attentive to sound or advice, often found in audiences. (9)
  3. To maintain possession or continue a particular action; also a stronghold in a castle. (4)

If you want to stick to a STEM theme, you can used clues like the following, but they will likely be harder to solve. (I admit that KEEP is a bit of a stretch, but you may have a better example.)

  1. In programming, these are small shifts or iterations that can help debug or refine code. (4)

  2. In telecommunications, devices or programs that await and receive incoming signals or data. (9)

  3. In computer science, this verb describes the action of retaining data in memory for future use. (4)

Hope this helps!

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