One of the projects I’ve been working on during the winter break of 2024/2025 is a video game for getting started with R. I’m usually thinking of new ways to communicate and share knowledge during my spare time. I’ve written a website (RGalleon.com), written a textbook (An Introduction to R for Non-Programmers), and taught short courses and in university setting on various aspects of R, Python, and/or SQL.
Developing the Video Game
However, I’ve been noticing that many of my students are now on their phones – all the time! I tried to think of a way that I could connect and share my expertise with those individuals better. In the summer of 2024, I tried developing an app, but it got put on the backburner. However, I buckled down during the winter break and made some serious progress. I tried my hand at Ren’Py, as it is python-based. This made it much easier for me to develop the video game as I already know python, so the syntax was easier for me to pick up and learn over other video game engines. Ren’Py also has a feature that exports your work to XCode for iOS development. (It has some small bugs when porting the game, but does so much of the work that it is still VERY helpful.) At this point, I have a game that works and has the main functionalities that I want.
Below is the opening screen:
The Basic Look and Functionality
Once the user starts the game, they will see a screen that looks like this:
The goal of the video game was to look like a phone texting conversation. I am hoping that it makes folks on their phones a lot more comfortable with the experience. By pressing the play icon, the user can progress the conversation. At certain points, the user will have different options to select. Their choice will prompt potentially different responses. Below is an example of the user’s message and the subsequent responses:
Since the app doesn’t have R built into it, I decided to include images of output so that the user can see what code will look like in R. Here’s an example of that:
The user will be presented with questions throughout the conversation. During these points, the user will have to make different choices. If the user makes an incorrect choice, the Professor character will explain why the choice is incorrect, and will give the user another chance to select the right solution. Once the user selects the right answer, the user will be able to progress.
Looking Forward
At this stage, I am still working out some kinks and polishing the game up (i.e., removing some buttons, including a tutorial for navigation, etc.). I hope to be able to release is during the first quarter for 2025 – so please stay tuned! 🙂