‘Bamzooki’ and ‘Bow Street Runner’ reviews plus visual schematic
Reviews
Bamzooki
‘Bamzooki’ is a cross platform project spread across television and the Bamzooki website. Created by the BBC for ‘Cbeebies’, Bamzooki fulfils part of the BBC’s children’s programming remit.
Children visit the website, where they are able to download a tool called the ‘Zook Kit’ which will allow them to design and build their very own ‘Zook’. After they have done this, they upload their Zook and see how well it does in battle against other Zooks, with some Zook battles being shown on the TV show. The website features league tables for participants to see how well their Zook is doing, a game called Zookimash which allows player to create a Zook just for fun without entering it into competition, help videos which offer tutorials on how to use the Zook Kit, a forum for users to discuss their creations and links to BBC iPlayer where you can catch up on previous episodes of Bamzookie that have already been shown on television.
The Bamzookie project is clearly aimed at a young demographic. Although the website does not specify an age range, I would guess that Bamzookie is aimed at 7 – 12 year olds. It is very bright, loud and colourful, which will obviously be appealing to children, although I felt it may be slightly confusing for children at the younger end of the demographic. From the homepage it is not immediately obvious what you are supposed to do, and that may alienate some of the audience. The Zook Kit tool also seemed fairly complex for young children, so maybe simplifying the process of creating a Zook may be one thing the developers could do to improve the experience.
Showing Bamzookie as part of CBeebies on television is the quickest way for the BBC to engage children, and is the entry point for the project, with the audience then directed to the website. The interactive nature of the website is essential for allowing the audience to create their own Zook, and this aspect is a great way of encouraging children to be creative. Each episode of Bamzookie is roughly eight minutes long, and I would estimate that it would take roughly one hour to create a Zook, including downloading the Zook Kit and uploading your creation to the website. As the TV and online aspect are directly linked, the audience will be largely the same on each.
Bow Street Runner
‘Bow Street Runner’ is an online ‘point and click’ game created by Channel 4. Set in London during the 1750’s, the player is cast as a ‘Bow Street Runner’ and is required to solve crimes. The game is designed to compliment the Channel 4 TV programme ‘City of Vice’, and so will go towards fulfilling the factual and educational part of the channels remit. The channel 4 website houses the game itself, along with a forum for users to talk about the history, the game, and links to Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Myspace and Bebo, where users can share a link to the game with other users.
The game is aimed at 14- 19 year olds, although the documentary would also appeal to an older audience who may be interested in this area of London’s history. Both these groups would find value in the forums and social networking sites. Although social networking sites generally attract a younger audience, the game comes with a warning that it may not be suitable for young children. The game is very successful in reaching its demographic. It is very atmospheric with high production values, utilizing a great mix of CGI and live action, and as a result is very engaging and entertaining for 14-19 year olds and adults alike. Making the project available across social networking sites is also a good idea as most 14 – 19 year olds will already be signed up to at least one.
As the ‘Bow Street Runners’ project is designed to be educational, making it into an interactive game is the perfect way of engaging the target audience, and it is very easy to use. However, the game seems very linear, and it is unclear how much the user can influence the game. By providing a link for users to share the game on Facebook and other social networking sites, Channel 4 have created a great way of making its target demographic aware of the game. Although the game could be seen as a stand alone project, as mentioned it is designed to compliment the television programme ‘City of Vice’. The show would be the entry point that gets viewers interested in the game, and then from the game users are directed to the forum. Another entry point would be the social networking sites where people may stumble upon the link taking them to the website and the game.
The game is specifically aimed at 14-19 year olds, so an older audience watching City of Vice may not play the game. The social networking sites that accompany the game are likely to have the same audience as not only do most people within the 14-19 year old demographic have a social networking account, the games website leads you directly to these sites. The game is time consuming, and is made available episodically, so a number of hours could be spent with it over a number of days. The amount of time spent discussing the game and the history in the forum would depend on the users interest in the game and the subject. The amount of time spent on the social networking sites is very brief, as all that is required to do is to click on a link to take you to the game, although this time could be extended if users decide to discuss the game and the television show on these sites.
