This website is a framework for designing and running Navis, an orientation game for almost any small college in the country. The Navis framework is how-to handbook and a collection of tools that university orientation staff can use to run their own version of Navis on their campus.
Within this framework, you will find step by step instructions on how to run your own version of Navis. All of the game design work has already been done for you-- all you need to do is fill in the details.
Pervasive games, or games that take place in physical spaces and pervade the everyday life of players, are an excellent way to engage students with each other and with their new campus. On the surface, games are a new way to capture students' attention. Orientations are often filled with lectures or panels that throw information at students, some of which may stay with students for their future academic careers. Games offer a new, engaging way to deliver valuable information.
Navis is a campus-wide scavenger hunt to be played during an orientation session. Orientation staff can use Navis to supplement their programming to further encourage first years to explore their campus, meet new classmates, and learn more about their school.
Navis lets players learn through experience. The game sets up situations for players to play, explore, and interact with each other while doing actions that will help them form bonds and gain knowledge about the campus and how to become a better student. Additionally, first years practice important university skills while playing Navis, including coordinating with peers, keeping organized and balanced, and taking initiative to solve challenges.
In addition, Navis can also be customized to fit the needs of a variety of college orientations. It can be scaled to fit your orientation's time period. You can also incorporate your school’s history and traditions. Navis is a design framework, meaning most of the game is already complete. The incomplete portions of the design are where you will plug in facts, resources, history, and traditions about your university. This Framework will take you through all of the steps of how to do this.
The Navis Framework details the game instructions and provides an implementation how-to. The Framework has been divided into subsections or chapters, which you can see when you create your own account or login.
The framework gives you the structure of the game and is meant to be used by any orientation staff to put on an edition of Navis. Some university specific content will need to be provided by you. But don't worry, this framework will tell you exactly what you will need to do.
So get your game master hats on. It's time to make a game.