Jack Sprout is a children’s game centered around teaching good will and being a positive member of a community. Developed under contract with Jack Shoop and based in the RPGMaker engine, gameplay features exploration, social interactions, and gathering resources from the natural world.
The Concept
The titular protagonist, Jack Sprout, leaves his roots on the farm to explore his community and meet his neighbors. After hearing the lessons they offer and helping them with their daily tasks, Jack Sprout enlists their help in building his own farm house at the climax.
Map of the woods
Production
Developed under a one-year contract, the initial steps were building the in-game scenes and transcribing the dialogue. The game is based on a published book written by Jack Shoop and follows the same story.
Certain scenes in the book were adapted into gameplay for entertainment value. These included optional conversation branches to break up exposition, item-collecting minigames to add variety, and a food item system for minor challenge and difficulty management.
In the final stages, we reviewed the game from start to finish with Jack Shoop to ensure he was happy with the product. He oversaw the dialogue and provided input on the resolution of certain gameplay challenges. We worked with him until he greenlit the final version.
Challenges
Reading a book requires minimal input from the reader. When playing a game, users expect a deeper level of engagement and immersion. At the same time, they expect to spend less time passively watching or reading a scene. With a strict absence of conflict present in the story, it became necessary to consider activities children would enjoy and find a way to integrate them.
Workload became a consideration midway through development. With the artist and I being the only team members working on the game, some aspects had to be simplified. Thankfully, the story’s simplicity allowed for variation in the activities the player performed. The main challenge became streamlining each scene and making sure any instructions were simple and easy to understand.
Another key influence was the client, Jack Shoop, who had no experience with electronic games. The company made sure he understood the development process and, while he did not get far in the game himself, his user experience helped us identify areas of improvement for the target audience.
Experience
Jack Sprout was the first game developed under contract for a client. Business skills became a necessity, as did time management. I was able to work at a steady pace and there was rarely a need for crunch, however the minigames in particular helped expand my problem-solving and debugging skills.
RPGMaker has its own reputation, but working on Jack Sprout revealed a potential to use the engine for experiences very different from the standard fare. Its accessibility provides a foundation on which to alter every aspect of the user experience, similar to more robust and open-ended software.
