Learn Science Through an MMORPG with Tyto Online

Middle school students can learn science through Tyto Online, an MMO game set in the future. This game was part of the Intel® Education Accelerator:

I'm Lindsey Trope with Immersed Games. And we're here at GDC in the Intel game dev lounge, showing off our game Tyto Online, which is an online, multiplayer game where students learn science and master those skills, while playing the game and leveling up. 

Tyto Online is made for middle school students, normally about 9 to 14-year-olds. And so when they come into the game, they're actually waking up from cryosleep, on an alien planet set in the future, as Earth refugees. And they join the Tyto Academy and start jumping in and solving problems in their new world. So, is something an invasive species that needs to be removed to save the ecosystem? Or different things like that. As they level up, they're unlocking the ability to do more, like creating their own ecosystems and learning in the game, too. 

So, our first module is about ecology, which we're just wrapping up. And we're going to keep building and adding more. We're looking at heredity, entrepreneurship, and many subjects. So in the long run, you'll have one game world where you're able to learn a lot of different subjects and do play in it. 

So we went through the Intel Education Accelerator late last year, which was an awesome experience. And through that, we've had a lot of introductions. People at Intel, who have been amazingly helpful, were able to get this on much lower and integrated graphics cards, actually. Given our target for education and students, we wanted to make sure that people without all of the latest equipment could play it, too, which has been great help with Intel. Using their different tools, like GPA and V2, and the different documentation from their developers, being able to spend a few weeks and just completely improve the optimization, specifically on integrated, Intel graphics architecture. 

So far, the game has been funded with angel investors and also the Intel Education Accelerator. And so, it's something we've definitely been exploring, different investors and who's the best fit on the education or the gaming side, since we're kind of a weird combination of things right now. And we are looking at grants. We just applied to a Department of Education grant and are really exploring whatever ways that we can get the money to keep developing and build this out and reach our widest audience we can.