EA, 3DO and Digital Chocolate founder Trip Hawkins has claimed he's looking to change the way children think, and feel, with his studio's new game IF.
IF, which is being developed by Hawkins new startup If You Can, will be split into chapters, and will tell the story of two tribes - the cats and the dogs - who don't get along.
The player will attempt to unite the two, whilst also learning unique emotional lessons such as how to recognise what someone else is feeling, or understanding how conflicts can escalate and, in turn, how to diffuse them.
Life lessons
Hawkins told GamesBeat that he is aiming to supplement learning in schools with IF by helping children learn and understand social and emotional development: something they don't teach in the classroom.
He wants to provide kids with a product thats fun, educational, and more importantly, emotionally resonant.
"I've had my own journey," explained Hawkins, "Materialism doesn't make you happy, but compassion does. Its something that makes you want to build your life around."
That is the fundamental point of social and emotional learning. It is shifting our value system away from materialism and toward compassion."
Hiding the spinach
IF is built on the Unity 3D engine for the iPad and, though most of the content will be available for free, eventually a subscription fee will be required.
However, Hawkins knows that his main aim must be to provide kids, and parents, with an experience thats educational, but also fundamentally entertaining.
Indeed, he believes that IF will only succeed in imparting some emotional wisdom if parents view the title as an educational tool, and their children view it as nothing more than a fun game, noting that "it's no fun if the kid smells the spinach".
[source: GamesBeat]
