Mentor Game Analysis 🧐

Mentor Game Details

Back in the 90s, inspired by research on data literacy and a children's visual data tool, Broderbund and TERC (non-profit) teamed up to create a fun educational game called Logical Journey of the Zoombinis. Released in 1996, this game featured adorable blue creatures with unique personalities, escaping from the evil Bloats to reach the safety of Zoombiniville. It quickly became a hit loved by both parents and teachers for its blend of learning and fun. The game inspired many kids to pursue careers in computer science. In 2015, TERC, with FableVision Games and Learning Games Network, relaunched Zoombinis for modern platforms, bringing it to classrooms today including research-backed support on its educational impact (Zoombinis: About).

The game primarily targets children aged 8-12. However, it could definitely appeal to a broader audience, including older children and adults who enjoy logic-based puzzles. Zoombinis, as a game, includes twelve math-based logic puzzles, each designed with four levels of difficulty. The puzzles offer opportunities to use various computational thinking skills such as breaking down a complex problem or system, planning a series of steps for solutions, and identifying and articulating a set of instructions for a specific problem (Zoombinis: Education).

The gameplay and overarching narrative of Zoombinis revolves around guiding a group of small, blue creatures called Zoombinis through a series of logic-based puzzles as they journey to find a new home because the Bloats have enslaved them on the Zoombini Isle. This task can only be achieved by solving a series of logic puzzles. Each puzzle requires logical and deductive reasoning by the player to navigate the Zoombinis through the challenging obstacles. Each Zoombini has unique characteristics, such as different hair styles, eye shapes, nose colors, feet styles, all of which are crucial in solving the puzzles. Therefore, the game rules revolve around solving the logic puzzles (Zoombinis: Detailed Guide). After playing for several hours, a few key rules emerged for me were: 

• Puzzles must be solved by correctly identifying and using the Zoombinis' attributes. 
• Trial and error has to be used to help identify the correct solution to puzzles. 
• As the player succeeds through each puzzle, they increase in difficulty, requiring players to recognize more complex patterns and iterate or refine strategies. 
• To complete the game, players must bring 400 Zoombinis from Zoombini Isle to Zoombiniville (Zoombinis: Detailed Guide).

As a player of the game and a huge fan of the Hero's Journey, I found that the Hero's Journey provided a nice framework for this game with the player as the hero. 

• Ordinary World: The player begins with skills in logical thinking and perseverance, mostly unchallenged in everyday life.
• Call to Adventure: The player is introduced to the Zoombinis' problem and accepts the challenge to guide them to freedom.
• Meeting the Mentor: The game itself, with tutorials and hints (the question mark), acts as a mentor to the player, always available to help guide the player as they navigate the puzzles. 
• Crossing the Threshold: The player commits to the journey, stepping into the world of Zoombinis, where they encounter their first puzzle (Allergy Cliffs). 
• Tests, Allies, and Enemies: The player faces various logic puzzles (tests) that become increasingly complex. The Zoombinis, with their unique attributes, serve as allies, and obstacles and puzzles (and the various characters within each puzzle) act as enemies.
• Approach to the Inmost Cave: As the player progresses, the puzzles become more challenging, requiring deeper logical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ordeal: The player faces the most difficult puzzles near the end of the game, where they must apply all the skills they’ve developed to ensure the Zoombinis' safe passage. 
• Reward: As the player successfully guides the Zoombinis to Zoombiniville (total of 400), they experience a sense of accomplishment and mastery.
• Return with the Elixir: The player returns to the ordinary world with the knowledge and experience gained from the game, potentially applying these problem-solving skills in real-life situations.

On the Zoombini website, there is an eBook download that includes information on educational research and mapping to standards. One can fill out the form and download the book for free. The ebook does not include lesson plans or learning activities but does align the game play to learning standards, specifically math. Additionally, on the website, there are several resources to help with play. FableVision games, on their website, offers a ZClub membership to teachers for a cost. This includes club activities and resources to use with students. 

Gameplay Experience

For my first session with Zoombinis, I spent a couple of hours exploring the practice map, focusing on navigating through the various logic puzzles. I worked through the "Not So Easy" levels first and encountered several puzzles I didn’t fully understand. After searching online, I found a guide that clarified each puzzle’s objective, which helped me better understand each puzzle. I spent considerable time on the Mudball Wall, enthralled by its pattern challenges, and eventually solving it at the "Very, Very Hard" level with help from my college-aged son.

For my second session with the adorable Zoombinis, I spent a couple of hours playing a game, beginning with choosing the various characteristics for the Zoombinis. While I haven’t played consistently enough to predict which combinations will be highly effective for each puzzle, I was more intentional in this play through, as I was now armed with a general understanding of how the puzzles work from the practice map. In the game, there are check points in which the player must have 16 Zoombinis before moving ahead. With my first crew, I lost a Zoombini at the Fleens, so when I arrived at the second checkpoint, I could not move on and returned to the beginning to get more Zoombinis. I started my second journey and lost a couple at the Allergic Cliffs, so I had a few at the first checkpoint, some at the second checkpoint, and still playing a third group. After some reflection and iteration on strategies and better understanding of each puzzle, I started a second game and successfully delivered 11 Zoombinis on my first journey! 

Learning is embedded throughout the gameplay, which fostered a feeling of accomplishment for me. From the first set of choices to the multiple checkpoints, my critical and creative thinking skills were at play. As an educator, I noticed engaged thinking skills such as sequencing, cause and effect, adding details, identify problem and possible solutions as well as risk-taking, trial and error, perseverance, even empathy (for the adorable Zoombinis). My biggest struggle thus far has been the lack of objectives clarity for each puzzle. Even after reading the detailed guide, I was still getting stuck on a couple of the puzzles but will continue to persevere! I imagine that the more I play, the more I reflect, and the more I iterate, the better I will be at keeping the Zoombinis alive as we journey. 

Zoombinis could easily be an excellent tool for teaching and learning math because it engages students in complex problem-solving and logical reasoning through an empathetic narrative. Transferrable skills such as recognizing patterns, categorizing objects, and making decisions are embedded in the game. In terms of improvement, there are some areas that would benefit such as more explicit connection between early simple to later complex puzzles. However, I have only played for several hours, so I look forward to more play and additional thinking about the game and its potential use for teaching and learning. 

Principles of Learning

Empowering Learners: Customization

At the game's inception, players decide which traits they want for their Zoombinis, which is critical to the game. This choice allows players to experiment with different combinations of traits throughout the different levels of the game or on the practice map, empowering them to tailor the game to their strategies, offering a somewhat customized learning journey. Selecting traits encourages players to think critically about the consequences of their choices as it impacts how they engage with the different puzzles. 

                                

Choosing Characteristics of Zoombinis

Zoombinis also provides players with the autonomy to control the pace of their learning. There is no time constraint for any of the puzzles, allowing time for thinking and processing. Additionally, the game allows for repeated playing, where players can explore different strategies and refine their understanding of each puzzle's logic. 

This game teaches computational skills, which are both needed and often wanted for today's modern classroom. Educators and/or parents could leverage the customizable aspect of the game by guiding students to start at a level that matches their current skills and gradually increases with difficulty as they master each level. If using in a classroom, learning experiences with this game could include analytical reflection where students discuss/write/vlog about strategies they used at different levels and how they adapted to increased complexity.  

Empowering Learners: Co-Design

In Zoombinis, players make strategic decisions on how their chosen traits interact with various challenges. As the game begins, choices for the first set of16 Zoombini are somewhat of a gamble because until a player encounters each puzzle, they don't necessarily know which traits are advantageous. For example, in the Allergic Cliffs puzzle, the choice of Zoombinis' features (eyes, hair, or feet) directly determines whether they can cross the cliffs. This puzzle showcases the principle of co-design and agency, as players' decisions about which Zoombinis to send first have immediate and visible consequences in the game. Stone Cold Caves and Captain Cajun's Steamboat also showcase the principle of co-design. 

Allergic Cliffs

Although players have agency in choosing Zoombinis and navigating puzzles, the game could be elevated by providing more feedback or even alternative outcomes based on player decisions. This might be allowing different paths through the game based on choices. The game currently only has two paths in the game. 

Teachers could use this game to discuss decision-making and its consequences, encouraging students to reflect on how their choices in the game affected the outcomes. This could be tied to discussions about decision-making in real-life contexts, such as problem-solving in collaborative projects. 

Problem-Based Learning: Well-Ordered Problems

Zoombinis begins with simple puzzles, like Allergic Cliffs and Stone Cold Caves where players must match Zoombinis to paths based on one trait. As players advance, the puzzles become more complex to include consideration of multiple traits and more abstract reasoning. This gradual increase in difficulty scaffolds the learning process, allowing players to build their problem-solving skills progressively. By experiencing success early in the game and reflection in game play, more complex levels can be faced with confidence. 

The game missed the opportunity to offer explicit explanations of how earlier puzzles connect to later complex ones. This would help players see the skill progression more clearly. If used for teaching, learning experiences could be structured to mirror the game's progression, starting with simpler problems that focus on one concept and gradually incorporating additional elements as students gain confidence and competence. 

When considering Zoombinis for learning, educators could design learning experiences that draw connections between game mechanics and real-world problem-solving. For example, students could reflect after each puzzle on what strategies worked and why, and how these strategies might transfer to other areas of study. Tools like journals or vlogs could be used to track learning and make connections between different puzzles and strategies used, fostering deeper understanding and real-world problem-solving skills.

Deep Understanding: Systems Thinking 

In Zoombinis, players are encouraged to see each puzzle not an isolated challenge but rather part of a bigger narrative where strategies and decisions made in one puzzle can influence outcomes for later puzzles. For example, the choice of individual Zoombini traits is crucial in the game, not just for the first puzzle but for all the following puzzles and levels. In Allergic Cliffs, players must match Zoombinis to bridges based on specific traits. If too many unsuccessful choices are made, Zoombinis are left behind, leaving only the ones saved to move to the next puzzle. Success in Allergic Cliffs means both solving the puzzle and preparing the Zoombinis for the next puzzle, where these same traits may or might not play a critical role. As players progress through all the puzzles, they can identify patterns and relationships throughout the game, helping to set up success in future more complex puzzles. This interconnected gameplay teaches players to anticipate consequences, adjust and apply learned strategies across different puzzles and levels within the game. 

One missed opportunity might be to include more explicit explanations on how the puzzles are connected to broader mathematical concepts such as pattern recognition. The more explicit the game could be in how it connects to the real world may be more helpful to educators. 

Systems thinking is a future-focused skill that is often overlooked or misunderstood in education. Zoombinis offers different entry points to deepen the understanding of systems thinking. For example, after playing the game, students might discuss how sorting Zoombinis by traits could be similar to categorizing objects in other subjects. Or the idea that choices have consequences within systems might connect to a history, science, or social studies topic. Systems thinking is a powerful learning opportunity for students. If they can experience systems thinking through game play and then transfer their understanding to real world topics, the learning impact could be profound. 

Personal Reflection

When my children were in grade school, I purchased the first iteration of Zoombinis for them to play. My eldest, as a twice-exceptional, visual-spatial learner (ADHD/Gifted), struggled in the logical-sequential world of school. He struggled to complete the simplest of math algorithms yet he could articulate the concept of negative numbers. As a child, Zoombinis offered him opportunities to use his high level logical and deductive reasoning skills (for his age), which encouraged his confidence as a learner. Additionally, I uncovered a blog post written by Izzy Lamb, a British writer and gamer, about how Zoombinis, as a video game, teaches anti-imperialist values. I look forward to digging deeper into her thoughts as well as how Zoombinis might play into importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools. 

References

Zoombinis: Education. Zoombinis. (2024). https://www.terc.edu/zoombinis/education/

Zoombinis: About. Zoombinis. (2024). https://www.terc.edu/zoombinis/about/

Zoombinis: Detailed Guide. Zoombinis (2021). https://www.terc.edu/zoombinis/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2021/01/ZoombinisDetailedGuide.pdf