'Speare : Shakespeare Meets the Aliens

When I heard about a Shakespeare video game, naturally my ears went up.  It seems that the fine folks at University of Guelph have created 'Speare, a video game designed to teach Shakespeare's work.  Here's the hook, though - it's a Space Invaders game, with a Shakespeare storyline.  The game itself is a 2D vertical scrolling shooter, and you get to blast things and collect things.  (Remember the rules:  If it moves, shoot it.  If it doesn't move, shoot it anyway.  If it's still there when the dust clears, pick it up, it's treasure.)  The storyline is all about how the "Prosperean" universe is all about peace, love and poetry until the bad guys come around and, having something to do with the Montagues and Capulets, steal Romeo and Juliet?  I got lost somewhere laong the line because I'm at work and I was trying to get through as much as I could before I got caught.

I'm actually quite intrigued.  It sounds like a dumb idea at first, but if you look at it the other way -- "videogame with Shakespeare in it", instead of "Shakespeare via videogame", then why not?  All good shooters need a story.  If this story happens to teach you something about Shakespeare, all the better.

You can play the demo online at the link above (you do have to register), and I'm anxious to get through it.  They want $20 for the full version, which I might do (they take PayPal, and I always keep a few bucks online for just such an occasion) to help support such projects.

 

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