Requirements
CLIENT INTRODUCTION
We worked closely with the National Autistic Society, partnering with Tess Steventon and Marius Byleveld to develop a successor to the "Superhero Sportsday" game. Our mission was to create a collaborative two-player magical exploration game specifically designed for children on the autism spectrum, aged 6 to 13. With this in mind, we integrated Motion Input technology, enabling the game to be controlled both via keyboard and physical gestures. This approach ensured the game was not only fun and engaging but also accessible and inclusive, offering an intuitive experience for all players.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the importance of accessible, inclusive game
design—especially for children with additional needs such as those on the autism spectrum. While the
gaming industry has seen rapid advances in technology, including motion-based input and immersive
environments, many mainstream games remain overstimulating, overly complex, or not designed with
neurodiverse users in mind.
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often face challenges related to sensory processing, motor
coordination, and social interaction. Research and practice in occupational therapy have shown that games
can be valuable tools to support the development of fine motor skills, encourage social cooperation, and
provide calming sensory experiences when designed thoughtfully. However, there is still a significant gap
in games specifically designed with these goals in mind, especially those using non-traditional input
methods such as motion tracking.
MotionInput, a UCL-developed technology, offers the potential to bridge this gap by allowing users to
interact with games through camera-based body movement—making digital experiences more physically engaging
and intuitive. While this technology has been explored in sports and rehabilitation contexts, its
application in child-friendly, therapeutic games remains relatively underdeveloped.
This project, developed in collaboration with the National Autistic Society and MotionInput Games Ltd.,
seeks to address this need. By combining motion input technology with a calming, nature-inspired game
world, the aim is to create an experience that is engaging, non-competitive, and supportive of
developmental goals. Through thoughtful design—grounded in user research and occupational therapy
insights—the project hopes to contribute a meaningful and inclusive tool to the landscape of therapeutic
gaming.
PROJECT GOALS
Our project, Super Explorers, aims to develop a two-player collaborative game set in a peaceful forest environment, with two seasonal settings: Spring and Autumn. The game will include four mini-games centered around exploration, gentle puzzle-solving, and connection with nature.
The world is designed to be calm and magical, featuring falling leaves, friendly animals, and NPCs with light dialogue to spark curiosity and wonder. To support a soothing experience, the game includes gentle background music, natural color palettes, and no competitive or aggressive elements—focusing on cooperation and discovery. Interaction is powered by MotionInput technology, allowing players to use body movement through the camera for immersive and intuitive gameplay.
Requirements Gathering
This section presents how we defined the requirement for our project.
Client Requirements
- Age Group: The game should be designed for children aged 6–12 years old.
- Calm and Visually Engaging Environment: Visuals should be beautiful and natural, avoiding fast-moving or flashing imagery. Loud, unpredictable sounds should be avoided in favor of soft, atmospheric background music.
- MotionInput Integration: The game must use motion input through the camera to encourage fine motor skills, full-body movement, and general physical activity.
- Cooperative Gameplay: The experience should promote turn-taking and teamwork. Tasks should allow both players to alternate roles and participate equally (e.g., one player holds an item while the other interacts with it).
- Exploration and Nature-Focused Themes: Mini-games should center on gentle puzzle-solving, nature, and curiosity—such as potion-making or interacting with animals and forest elements.
- Limited and Simple Controls: Controls should remain minimal and intuitive—using gestures such as reaching, holding, or pointing—so players aren't overwhelmed.
- Non-Competitive Design: The game must avoid competitive or aggressive elements. Instead, it should encourage shared success and positive reinforcement.
- Sensory-Friendly Design: The gameplay should be relaxing and not overstimulating—suitable for children who may be sensitive to sensory overload.
User Requirements
In order to design a tool that is both usable and effective for our specific target audience, we first needed to understand what users would want and need from such a game. To do this, we developed initial assumptions about our users, which guided the creation of interview questions and a survey to collect user insights. Due to ethical and legal constraints, direct research with children was not possible, so we gathered responses from our peers—individuals older than the target age group and with some knowledge of the subject. While this data provided valuable input, it is important to acknowledge its limitations in fully representing our intended users.
To bridge this gap, we created detailed personas that reflect the needs, motivations, and challenges of our actual user base.
Personas
Building personas helped us abstract away from the data previously gathered. Additionally, it ensured that all team members had the same vision of the user, which helped during the ideation process. Most importantly, it kept the design user-centered.
John Haliburton
8-Year-Old Child diagnosed with ASD
John is an 8-year-old child who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. John plays our game daily, often with his friends but sometimes alone. During each play session, John and his friends would choose a different season in comparison to the previous day. While playing the game, he found the colours and user interface are comprehensive and easy to look at. It was easy for him to navigate the game. He also found that the sound effects and background music were not over-powering or distracting.
Jane Doe
Occupational Therapist
Jane is an occupational therapist who has been helping children with Autism Spectrum Disorder for 15 years. She sets up the computer for up to 4 children to play the game together. The screen splits into equal parts depending on the number of players. Jane has observed that the collaborative puzzles have improved the children's social skills and problem-solving abilities. She also noticed that the children do not get overstimulated by the games' visuals and audio.
MoSCoW Requirements
Doing research on the target group made users' goals clear: learning about nature exploration and having fun cooperatively. So, we created a MoSCoW list based on the user and client requirements to get us started on ideas.
- The game should be visually engaging for the children.
- There must be tutorials throughout the game to effectively guide the children.
- The game must not be overstimulating.
- Each part of the game must be adapted to 2 Players
- The children need to be able to play using motion input OR keyboard controls
- Game will have physically stimulating components.
- There should be a high replay-ability aspect.
- The children shouldn't need to complete all the games and have the freedom to try out the various features in their own time.
- Background music to add to the magical atmosphere.
- Contain a sort of reward system for each game, whether it's a prize or acknowledgement of your progress.
- Animals throughout the game.
- Crafting aspects within a game.
- Score board.
- Academic components e.g. mathematics and chemistry.
- The motion input actions required will be clear and intuitive.
- Clear interface: someone with little to no technical experience can set up and navigate.
- Must work on a windows computer.
- System will have maintainable code for future modifications/additions and updates.
- Game should run on at least 30fps even on low end computers to ensure it's playable.
- Font size adaptability.
- Include a colourblind-friendly mode (or modes), offering alternative colour schemes that are distinguishable for individuals with different types of colour blindness
- There will be no log in functions which would keep track of each new player.