We Participated in the Creation of a Video Game Museum at the"Féru des sciences" museum!

Hi folks!
Last week, the inauguration of the "video games" exhibition took place at the "Féru des sciences", where it will be held for 8 months! We played a significant role in the creation of this exhibition, particularly by designing and programming the 12 games and applications on display!

Taking on the Challenge: 12 Games in 1.5 Months!

When Lucile Guitienne and her team visited Inria to discuss their exhibition project, we immediately loved the idea. However, we warned them: creating twelve video games in one and a half months is a crazy project! Nevertheless, we were daring enough to accept the challenge. We quickly got to work, started exploring different themes, and considered the gameplay of each experience, etc.

Video games and their impact on society

The exhibition, designed by the team at Féru des Sciences / Museum Aquarium of Nancy, aims to highlight the game and its impact on society. The journey is intended to be bold, showcasing the diversity of players, the clichés and prejudices about the gaming world, gender issues in both perception and online harassment, and the learning that can occur through gaming. It's hard to cover all the facets of this exhibition without visiting it, and for us, there's no doubt, it’s worth the trip!

At Cats & Foxes, many topics addressed in the exhibition, including inclusivity, representation of everyone, harassment issues, hidden learning, etc., are close to our hearts, and we are very proud to have had the chance to participate in this beautiful project.

Co-creation of applications and activities

We worked under the direction of the Museum Aquarium team; for some games, they provided their ideas and wishes (like "Pimp my Pitbull," which we would never have imagined!). For others, they gave us free rein and trusted us with the ideas, design, and realization. This is the case, for example, with the three educational experiences (3D materials in games, speed and position projection and calculation), the benevolent park, etc.

We were able to contribute to various aspects, including writing, game design, graphics and animation, and, of course, development. Given the extremely tight deadlines, some games feature graphics from VirtualSociety, some were custom-made (like Craft and Pimp My Pitbull), and others use free assets created by Quaternius.

A Badge to visit with your avatar

The Grand Nancy team wanted an exhibition that involved visitors, giving them the opportunity not only to play but also to bring their avatar throughout the exhibition. Jimmy then proposed equipping each terminal with NFC readers and giving each visitor a badge. Thus, the exhibition begins by creating an avatar, which is saved to their badge, and they can then retrieve it in each game, whether solo or multiplayer, until the end of the exhibition. Upon leaving, they badge one last time to appear on the scoreboard!

The Moment of the inauguration!

Participating in the creation of this exhibition was exciting but also truly exhausting! With such a short deadline, we were in a real crunch in the last few weeks, working evenings and weekends! Nevertheless, we are extremely happy to have been part of this fantastic project and very grateful to the Museum Aquarium team for believing in us!

Thank you for your support, and see you soon with updates on the progress of VirtualSociety!