Today I chose to play through and share my thoughts on the language learning game ‘Earthlingo’. (Why do a lot of language learning games and apps have ‘lingo’ in their name? A Duolingo hangover?) Here is the game website. It’s a cute game about a small green alien (stereotype? 😀 ) who is chased down to earth and has to learn words to repair his ship and get back to his home planet. I spent about half an hour playing the game and recording so I can share my first impressions candidly. Here they are for your reading pleasure.
Look and Feel
The game has clearly been designed to be played on mobile but runs relatively smoothly on PC as well. It is free to play on Steam and is available to download on the App store and Play store. The graphics reminds me of early 2000s flash games but for a free to play game, one cannot expect more. The transitions are jumpy sometimes. On starting the game, it asks you to choose one language you’re fluent in (which is used in the interface and for the minimal instructions) and the target language you would like to learn. According to their website you can learn 12 languages as of now and 14 in the coming year. The music is also very simple and yet not jarring or harsh in any way. The controls are very simple to understand and the tutorial is incorporated into the first stages of the gameplay. The interface is a mix of verbal and non verbal clues with icons being used to direct you to Home, Settings etc which is useful if you’re looking to avoid using the main language (in my case English) as rarely as possible.
Narrative
In the introductory cut scene you see the alien (which is the only playable character) and how he ends up on Earth (atleast some Multiverse version of it where there is a Gun Shop in Paris. A gun shop. In Paris!) This is done without any dialogues and so it sets the tone for the player and ensures he/she pays attention to what’s on the screen. The ‘enemies’ are introduced early on and you know who to look out for.
Controls and Gameplay
After about 30 minutes of gameplay it is clear that the game would be easier to play on mobile. But the keyboard works well too. Arrow keys to move around, space to jump, right click and swipe to change camera angle and left click to choose object. You play the alien running around and clicking on the objects in front of you to learn their names. The more words you add to your vocaublary, the more tests you can take / battles you can have. At the end of each test / battle you get some coins and with the coins you unlock the parts of the game necessary to move the story ahead and advance in the game. For example, after adding a set number of words in The Town, the second stage unocked is The Home.
Adding Vocabulary
Earthlingo is primarily a vocabulary learning game and not so much one that helps you with conversation. The game mechanic is geared towards getting you to learn as many words in the new language as possible. Every time you click the object in front of you, you hear the pronunciation of the word and it’s meaning in English. You can do this any number of times and once you’re confident about knowing the meaning of the word you can add it to your list of words. You have complete freedom to steer your character in any direction and click on any of the objects you see in front of you. While this gives the learner the ability to gravitate towards what they like, it can also be overwhelming (atleast initially) for a complete beginner.
Evaluation
Once you have enough words added to your list you can start a test on your own which can be of two types :
- Find test : Where you run around the city clicking on the objects the game asks you to find.
- Type test: Where you type the word that the games shows you / tells you.
I tried making a few mistakes in both the tests and the game gave me the right answer and kept repeating it until I got the spelling right. This feature gets a thumbs up from me.
The second kind of testing in the game is also its combat element. Without revealing too much of the plot I will say that there are some NPCs that need to be attacked one-on-one and the game gets you to use the words you learnt as missiles. (Talk about the pen being mightier than the sword). What I really liked the most about this combat is that it was a spell test with a correction rubric. To attack an enemy you need to spell the word correctly. When spelled fully right it drains the health of the enemy a considerable amount. Let’s say you make a minor mistake of using one wrong letter, it still drains the enemy’s health but a little lesser. This is a good feature as it shows the player the mistake they have made and helps them correct those mistakes. You cannot end combat without spelling the word correctly.
There is some strategy to the combat in that with each hit you may choose to drain the enemy’s health (which restores your own) or simply attack it.
Serious game?
Earthlingo is a great game for learning new vocabulary. It uses spaced repetition, it pairs spatial awareness, audio input and visual input for every word it teaches. As the player navigates the character around the town identifying ‘bakery’, ‘police station’, ‘river’, ‘car’ etc there is an element of spatial movement in the vocabulary learning that can aid recall in the short term. However, research also says that learning new words without being given the opportunity to use them in everyday context can hinder vocabulary retention in the long run. Earthlingo is an engaging alternative to vocabulary flashcards. A way to use the words regularly in some form of dialogue will make it even more useful. The look and feel can also be reworked to be more modern to suit the tastes of it’s target learners.
Do let me know how I can improve the playthroughs. I’ve just used the game audio this once and did not try to give oral feedback during the play through. Should I try?