Over the weekend of September 8th and 9th, 2018, our team participated in a Game Jam hosted by the Nashville Game Developers and The Adventure Science Center here in Nashville, TN. The event kicked off on Saturday morning with introductions and our challenge for the weekend: create a science-based game with an educational spin.  Given that The Adventure Science Center had dedicated September as "Make It Month," creating a video game based on the science of water seemed perfectly in sync with that idea.

Through a bit of brainstorming and ideation, we came up with our theme: Water.  Water is one of the most interesting substances in the universe with a host of properties and uses.  We wanted to use our game to teach about the 3 main phases of water - solid, liquid, and gas.  The player would be tasked with navigating a 2D puzzle environment using game mechanics to heat or cool their water character to make it through obstacles and finish the puzzle.

We knew we wanted the experience to include the player having to change between the various phases of water to complete the level.  The challenge became how to do that in an educational,  yet fun way.  We decided to utilize the idea of a Bunsen burner to heat the water into a gas to be able to float.  We would use a freezer to turn the water into an ice cube to be able to break through obstacles.  And we'd use the idea of time and friction to turn the gas or ice back into water to navigate grates in the floor.