Dreamhaus: Gameplay

Backstory
When the game opens, Bobbi is a 50- something, cutting-edge architect in Soho with an asymmetrical haircut. Other main characters include Kevin - (previously Ken) now Bobbi's harried, gay assistant, and Skipper - Bobbi's smart-alec intern. Also recurring will be "The Money" a disembodied voice that communicates Bobbi's assignments through her super-powered PDA. The player will control only Bobbi; all other characters will be controlled by the game and will present the player with constant challenges and clues.

The gameplay consists of five elements:
1) Visiting architecturally significant buildings,
2) Solving puzzles to unlock the mysteries of each building,
3) Conversing with the ghosts of (or living) architects,
4) Designing buildings, and
5) Trading and critiquing designs through the online community.

7 Design Challenges
To win the Gold, each architect must fulfil seven design challenges, plus a final open-ended design challenge.

1. "Tiny" Summer Home for The Money in Siberia.
2. A stone house for a wealthy teenage actor whose parents are concerned that he needs a solid roof over his head.
3. A home at least 35 stories tall for a short, wealthy businessman with a Napoleonic complex.
4. A portable home of 30,000 square feet for a veteran circus performer who can't give up life under the big top.
5. An Egg shaped home for an LA starlet who wants to live in a state of gestation and hopes the shape will protect her from earthquakes.
6. Build an Antarctica resort for a east-cost, west cost rap star who is looking to chill out South.
7. An underwater research facility for a shampoo company that wants access to an unlimited supply of salt water.

Each builds on content from the previous level while introducing a new physics and engineering concepts or principles.

Sample Level
Each level starts with the introduction of the design task, and a short conversation with Skipper. Using Bobbi's futuristic cell phone, they travel through space to the building. There, they are greeted by the ghost of the architect who gives them clues about the design secret (a.k.a. the target physics concept).

At the architecture site, the ghost leads the player through a series of game puzzles designed to communicate specific physics/ engineering / math concepts. These puzzles are embedded in the physical game space, but often focus the player on specific elements of a design. For example, in the first level, the player completes a simple puzzle trying to stack as much weight as possible on to simple beam support structures made of stone and wood. In later puzzles players explore the physical properties of the arch by locating the safest space to stand in an egg-shape building during an earthquake. The puzzles are designed to develop students' understandings in a manner similar to a tutorial and are sequenced so that students encounter a variety of examples embodying the concept.

Once the player has completed the series of design challenges, she is given a full explanation of the concept. Consistent with guided discovery pedagogical techniques, this revelation coincides with the player's discovery of the secret behind the design challenge. Next, she returns to her office and works on a design incorporating the target principle or concept using the CAD element of the software. Bobbi can import each of the buildings she visits into the cad software as well. When she is done, she submits her work to the architectural engineer (the CAD Software), who tests it for it for obvious structural problems before she submits it to the AIA panel.

After passing through the architectural engineer's review, she can submit it to the AIA panel. Depending on the particular learning context, the panel may be a teacher, a panel of peer reviewers, a panel of community experts designated by the teacher, or a panel assembled from the DreamHaus website. The panel reviews the design, and decides if Bobbi has met the design challenge. If she has, the panel presents the final challenge. If she has not, she can return to the site-based tutorials with the ghost of the Architect, additional advice from the Architectural Engineer, and more support from Skipper in the design phase.