For my practicum project I'm checking out the social gaming website Kongregate. Kongregate has hundreds of games that you can play right in your browser (using Flash) and a lot of them are really quite fun. A major thing that separates Kongergate from other Flash gaming websites, however, is the social components built into every game. There are achievements, high-score boards and chat alongside every game you play. It really makes the gaming experience a lot more personable.
Upon registering my account (went with the username BUCKY_BADGER) I received a welcome private message on the site. This had a two fold effect. First the content of the message had a few ways for me to get acquainted with the site. It suggested I should Build My Profile, Earn some points and finally go out and "Score my first badge". The other thing the message did for me, is it made me immediately aware that this site has a built in private message system. So if I were to make friends with people in chat, I could send them a message right on the site. Seems obvious when we have things like Facebook but it definitely helps cement Kongregate as a social network.
After that I was off to play my first game, and attempt to earn my first badge. The game I chose was called Learn To Fly. In it, you play as a penguin who desires nothing more than to flap his wings and fly. Throughout the game you launch the penguin of an icy ramp in an attempt to have him fly as far as he can. Using different powerups such as rockets and gliders you can really get some distance. Without too much difficulty I earned my first badge!This was considered an "easy" badge so I received 5 Kongregate points for it. Not 100% sure what those are used for, but I'll figure it out by my next blog post!
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