When you were in grade school, did your teacher keep a chart up on the wall, and give out gold stars for good behavior? I know mine did.

Now that I'm a teacher myself (albeit one with a hobby of playing tabletop RPG's and board game design) I've taken gold stars to the next level. Students with good behavior, and students who are high achievers in their studies receive game currency, and can spend that currency to advance in a simulation game that we are playing as a class. The idea of simulation games for a classroom is nothing new, you can buy them pre-made from numerous publishing companies. However, the one that I made is completely built from scratch. The kids like it; they are competitive with the other teams and generally work hard in class to earn the game currency needed to win the game. I enjoy administering the game too with one exception - upkeep is a real P.I.T.A. I routinely spend 30-45 minutes each week updating scores and listing turn results on the bulletin board that is also our game board.

So, I got to thinking... Kids these days are all internet-savvy (at least at my school). What if I brought my game online and made it web-based? The computer could do all the score keeping, and all that the teacher would have to do is update the database with which kids earned how much game money that week. I did some searching to see if something like this already existed. The closest thing I found was this little website called "Chore Wars" (http://www.chorewars.com/) which is not really what I had in mind at all. In other words, I seem to have discovered a niche that is currently empty. I have no proof that there is demand for my idea, but my intuition tells me that the idea could be huge among the gaming generation that makes up today's students.

In my mind, I can already envision exactly how the website would be laid out, and how the game would adapt to being played via the web. The problem is, I don't know the first thing about programming. I don't even know which language would be appropriate, although a friend suggested I learn SQL. Yeah right! My last programming experience was in BASIC back in the early 90's. I'm probably not going to be able to do this myself.

Which brings me to the crux of this post. (If you're still with me, thanks) I have been looking for a partner who has experience in programming web apps. I would share my game design, and then the coding person could help me implement it. I don't know the first thing about how to market my idea - money is not even the primary motivator for me, since I enjoy the creation process. If this hypothetical web developer also had an entrepreneurial streak in him and knew how to turn the idea into real money, I would be glad to split any profits 50/50 or whatever the going rate is for these sorts of partnerships.

Even if the project didn't make a cent, I would rest happy knowing that teachers and classes worldwide enjoyed playing my game (which is complete by the way, except for the pesky programming bit) I just think it has the potential to really be popular since right now there is nothing else like it out there.

So, give me some feedback. How should I go about seeking a partner in this endeavor? Is it impossible to find one, and should I take my friend's advice and buy a book on Perl/SQL instead? Your input is appreciated. It certainly seems as if this forum is well read, so hopefully I will get some constructive advice. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

- Ken R.

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The computer could do all the score keeping, and all that the teacher would have to do is update the database with which kids earned how much game money that week.

If you are willing to update the database, it sounds like an intermediate step is to get the scoring done on a spreadsheet. Because you won't need to worry about kids hacking into your database just for the kick.

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Original post by BMIJ 1. I have been looking for a partner who has experience in programming web apps. ... How should I go about seeking a partner in this endeavor? 2. Is it impossible to find one, 3. and should I take my friend's advice and buy a book on Perl/SQL instead?

1. Use the Help Wanted forum.
2. Nothing is impossible.
3. If you want to.

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1. Use the Help Wanted forum. 2. Nothing is impossible. 3. If you want to.

Yeah, the Help Wanted forum - that would be a start. I didn't notice that at first, you guys have got a _lot_ of forums here. :-) Thanks for pointing it out to me.

-k

どういたしまして

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Original post by Tom Sloper どういたしまして

I had a friend from college who always heard the term "dou itashimashite" as "don't touch my mustache" :-P

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and generally work hard in class to earn the game currency needed to win the game

That's the most devious concept I ever heard :D

How do you plan to make the game earn money? It seems like players can not buy any in-game goods because everything is given by the teacher. Would school or parents pay for this?

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Original post by BMIJ I had a friend from college who always heard the term "dou itashimashite" as "don't touch my mustache" :-P

Yes, heard that one.

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Original post by Acharis How do you plan to make the game earn money? It seems like players can not buy any in-game goods because everything is given by the teacher. Would school or parents pay for this?

I think that people are going to buy their grades. Well, not in the beginning, but corruption is inevitable. This is statement is meant to be a joke, but it is also the reality of life.

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Original post by BMIJ My initial plan is to create a game to offer as freeware on a limited scale. Once we have a product, the idea is scalable. (instead of space themed, fantasy themed, or offer expansion packs for the initial game)

This is the answer to Accharis' question not intentionally by BMIJ's post in the help wanted forum.

Isn't it better to just have the computer system grade the problems? Why have the teacher spend time on "trivial" deeds?
I think it is easier if mathematical problems are created by creating a template where random problems can be created. For spelling, vocabulary, and the likes--a complete list of words at each grade level should be appropriate. That way, the teachers do not need to update as much because the computer will randomly assign an appropriate level problem to the students.
An example for a template rated first grade level is one digit by one digit addition. Another template is the two digit by one digit addition. And a third one will be the two digit by two digit addition that comes near the end of first grade say about 1.7 grade (not really the exact grade level, but is use to differentiate it from other first grade level problems).

Re: Acharis, Platinum_Dragon

As far as I understand, the customer is the teacher or the schoolboard, not the students.
Its competitors are other classroom management and interactive education software.