WV Quest: A Look at the Semester

Written by Ben Bradford

Throughout this semester, MonRiverGames has been diligently working in collaboration with the West Virginia State Museum to bring exciting updates to our app, WV Quest. This interactive application is designed to enhance the museum experience by providing students and visitors with a unique opportunity to engage with exhibits through a series of mini-games. This semester, the MonRiverGames team has been hard at work making the app better than ever.

User Experience/User Interface (UX/UI) Enhancements:

Ensuring a user-friendly and visually appealing app is crucial. We've continued refining the UX/UI based on changes implemented over the summer, prioritizing consistency. The goal is to make the entire app visually cohesive, ensuring that the UI for all mini-games matches each other and the app's overall design. We've also actively incorporated user feedback, making adjustments to existing mini-games based on insights gathered from events like Bit Bridge’s Halloween Event and the Mountain State Pop Expo. Our aim is to deliver mini-games that visitors can enjoy while potentially learning something new.

To guarantee a smooth user experience, we made sure to give the app a tune up with all the changes and additional games being added. Load times have been reduced, mini-games run faster, and the app now runs more efficiently across various devices. 

New Fun Games:

In addition to all of the previously mentioned changes, we also have some new games nearing completion: 

WV Cookie Cutter by David:

In this mini-game, students get to play with the historical borders of Virginia and West Virginia before they became separate states. Can you draw the border accurately? It's an interactive way to understand the evolution of our state's boundaries.

Frontier Finder by Ben:

Explore the frontier period of West Virginia with "Frontier Finder." Players will be challenged to locate significant events and places on a map. Once they’ve been found, players get to learn some additional fun facts about that place or event that may not be in the museum. 

Dr. Bones Archaeology Dig by Harrison:

Get ready to channel your inner archaeologist! Harrison has designed a cool mini-game called "Dr. Bones Archaeology Dig." Players get to use a variety of virtual tools to dig up fossils from West Virginia’s past. Can you dig up everything before you run out of energy?

State Capital History by Jayanth:

“State Capital History” tests players' knowledge of West Virginia history. Players are asked questions about the state’s capital and must guess when that happened from multiple choices. Answer the questions correctly and see who among your friends knows the most about West Virginia’s capital history!

The changes made to WV Quest this semester aim to enhance the app's appearance and usability, creating a connected and enjoyable experience for students and museum visitors. While there's no specific completion timeline, we hope to present a working version to the museum by Summer 2024 for visitors to test out. Stay tuned for more updates!