Welcome to Jackson Cedar Academy, an elite school for kids to learn and grow. The Academy is home to a range of students with a passion for learning and for being the best versions of themselves. The facility is expansive and includes many clubs, teams and societies for players to experience.

Customize your avatar with a unique look and decorate your bedroom to suit your style. When you get to school, run on over to the baseball diamond to debate strategy or head into the science lab to experiment with physics. With so many avenues to explore, you can learn everything from the migration patterns of birds to which shoes match your new jacket. With so much to learn and do and personalize, who will you be?

​

Aliferous Academy is an original social simulation online mobile game, set in an exciting and expansive school setting where players can select from a large list of interests and learn at their own pace with engaging dialogue and fun mini games. The app combines role-playing games and choose your own adventures with micro-gaming and tween-tailored education to create a one-of-a-kind experience.

​

Players can create an avatar and decorate their bedroom with a wide range of items and features to personalize their image. Then they can navigate the app through exploring the school facility and chatting with characters to learn about almost anything that piques their interest.     By meeting and befriending characters, players can join clubs, teams and societies in order to develop a greater understanding of their interests and engage in active learning with fun mini games and text-based dialogue with the academy’s student body.

​

Lanes of interest for the player to explore include everything from cultural studies to astronomy to gardening, and represent a range of information that may be interesting to tweens, through easy to understand and age-appropriate content. The player can unlock mini-games in order to earn coins and unlock store locations for them to purchase accessories or room decor related to the various activities and clubs. Players can save up coins to purchase quirky or cool decor or clothes within unlocked store locations. They can visit the main shop where these items are offered for free or at a discounted rate for a limited amount of time. For the patient player, they can add up to five items to their wish list, which will send them a notification if the item becomes available in the main shop. The core of this site is the intention that it be for the curious 8-12-year-old who wants to gain more information in a fun, accessible and age-appropriate way, free of real social pressures. I hope this will empower players to be the best versions of themselves. For this reason, it is also integral that the site be diverse and inclusive, featuring representation through a variety of story characters and customizables to appeal to the unique world we live in today. This property will be predominantly in the digital space with limited retail product.

​

Target Audience:

​

From the age eight to age twelve is a curious time in a child’s life. At the lower end of the age range, kids feel invincible. They’re not afraid of anything online and are used to interacting with strangers in this space. They’ve reached the age where they are comfortable being connected all the time, and they are in the beginning stages of being aware of their own identity. Eight to ten year olds like to feel in charge of their interactions and dislike being told what to do. This translates into creating content for them that doesn’t start with a set of rules, but instead gives them feedback on their decisions, whether they be good or bad. They like a bit of a challenge and try to figure things out on their own, without adult help. Sometimes this will drive them to try to break the rules and content should allow for them to be silly and creative without encouraging rule breaking. This is important too for customization, which should let them be creative and express themselves.

On the latter end, the ten to twelve year olds become more aware of multiple perspectives, actions and outcomes, often leaving them to agonize over what they should do, how they should act, who they should be. This is the age where they begin questioning their identity and how they fit into the world, often feeling left out or misunderstood. Content for this age group should focus on creativity and context, encouraging differences and self-expression. This age group likes to feel smart, like they know a lot about a certain topic and content should let them discover what has meaning to them and then let them explore that in a casual setting.

​

During this age transition, kids shift into using their mobile phones and tablets over their computers and begin to develop a personal and individual way of dealing with the world around them. Between these ages, they go from feeling on top of the world and confident in the personal aspect of their lives to feeling self-conscious and confused about how they fit into the world, and where they belong. The idea of customization in Aliferous Academy goes from being a place to be silly to a place to define themselves. It’s also the age where representation is crucial to self-esteem. Children begin to think critically of their content and ask questions about the kinds of characters they see in their shows and movies and games. It’s the age were they begin to feel self conscious if they don’t fit the ideals portrayed in the media and in the content created for them.

​

Key Issues/Themes:

​

At it’s heart, Aliferous Academy promotes self-expression and exploration as a form of personal growth and encourages players to be curious and inquisitive. The app focuses on the individual player greatly, making each player’s experience unique in encouraging them to be honest with themselves, asking critical questions like ‘who am I?’ and ‘who would I like to be?’. Aliferous Academy sows the seeds for self branding and an honest online presence in tweens so that they will have a safe place to explore their own sense of self without having to create a new social media account every time they feel that their identity has shifted. Instead, players can freely explore self-expression within this app by altering their style through the abundance of customizables and by accessing new lanes of interest, joining new clubs, casually exploring and discovering what piques their interest and what is important to them. Hopefully, this will promote a more honest, down-to-earth outlook in players, at a time in their life where they are defining their self and toying with persona, especially in the context of the Internet and social media.

Another main feature of this app is that it is single-player and individual based. This creates a space free of social pressure or influence for players to gauge their own learning without feeling self-conscious or vulnerable through self-guided learning that requires a high amount of engagement from the user. This means that a player can be carefree in their interests, perhaps choosing to learn about a topic that their friends might consider lame. The app privatizes learning in a time where their whole world is publicly online.

​

Another feature of Aliferous Academy is that it encourages peer-based learning through the student experts that the player learns from. It’s proven that this age group learns better when being taught by someone similar in age to them than someone who is older with more authority. By presenting players with a school full of characters who will readily help the player to learn, it highlights both the importance of being independent and seeking out information on one’s own, but also relying on peers and friends to learn together in a fun way. The network of characters that lean on each other to teach the player encourages social-learning and actively offers suggestions when the information isn’t available in a specific lane of interest. This is shown in the app when a character references an interest related to but not included in their own expertise and gives the player the contact information of another host who is more knowledgeable in the subject at hand.

​

The app maintains these themes for all of it’s players regardless of their race, gender, or ability by creating an environment that is diverse and inclusive and thus creates a greater sense of representation for those who are often not represented. The app strives to present unique characters with a variety of features, including characters of different races, genders, abilities, styles and personalities, creating the landscape of diversity and inclusion that is not often prominent in content for this age group. In this, the app promotes acceptance and open-mindedness. This inclusion will also take the form of accessibility within the app. Being a predominantly text based and visual game, it is accessible for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, but also those with mobility differences. The app will be accessible for those with limited vision through auditory clues and closed captioning, available in the options.

​

Interests:

​

In the app, players will have various lanes of play that they can revisit and explore based on an area of interest. In-game, these will appear as clubs and teams that players can join and can drop-in on at any time, picking up where they left off. Each lane of interest will have a host character. This host will be a fictional student at Jackson Cedar Academy and will be very knowledgeable in the topic at hand. This is the basis of the educational and age-appropriate encyclopedic information that is available for the player to learn and discover. Players will interact with a text-based interface that relies heavily on the engagement of the player. At any point players can cancel the interaction and revisit later or abandon the lane and the interest all together. Using multiple choice, text replies, characters can form relationships with the host characters to further their learning in the interest and advance down the lane of study. Progressing through the dialogue will not only reveal fun, educational information specifically written to engage with the tween audience, but will unlock mini-games that will allow the user to put their knowledge to a more practical use and test their engagement.

Generally, mini games will be easy to beat, but if the difficulty is increased, the mini games can present an aspect of challenge to gamers looking for more hands-on game play. Each lane will include a couple mini games for the player to discover based on how much they’ve learned about the interest. Players will earn coins by playing the mini games, which can be used to purchase customizables for their avatar and home space once they have unlocked the secret locations of specific-interest themed shopping spaces, which is revealed through interacting with the host of that interest.     A wide range of interests will be covered in the game including gardening, fashion, physics, math, world history, weather, biology, animals, basketball, culinary, tennis, astrology, theatre, cultural studies, fine arts, paleontology, medicine, math theory, football and many others.

Interest items available for purchase can include hair styles, makeup, shirts, jackets, pants, shoes, jewelery, accessories, bed linens, wall hangings, pillows, desk chairs, knick knacks, books (encyclopedias), carpets, window treatments and other things.     Example: Abdul is Vice President of the Garden Society and is gearing up to take over the presidency next year by recruiting new club members and educating them about the society and it’s activity. This lane of interest will cover indoor and outdoor gardening, plant genus and variety, fruits and vegetables, herb gardens, sunlight and temperatures for growing, succulents, trees, pollination and composting to make fertilizer. As the player unlocks the information through conversing with Abdul, they can buy the garden encyclopedia from the store and it’ll gather all the information for the player to revisit in their virtual bedroom. Mini games for this lane include pollination for bee maintenance, simple composting with food scraps to make fertilizer, growing seasons and light levels.

​

Avatars:

​

The in-game avatars are fully customizable and offer a wide range of features for the player to choose from. Players can customize skin colour, facial structures, body type and can be customized again and again to change and grow with players as they explore their interests. Inclusion and diversity are supported and encouraged so that players will be able to create an avatar from a wide variety of races, or can combine complexions and features to resemble the unique and diverse range of people in the world today. A main feature of the avatar customization is the omission of sex/gender defaults.

Players will begin the customization process with a randomly generated avatar without ever selecting if they are male or female, girl or boy. Many of the features in the game are noticeably male or female features but androgynous features are also abundantly available for customization. Clothes, hairstyles, accessories and makeup looks are available for all and feature feminine, masculine and androgynous varieties to create a unique character. Avatars can also be customized with other features that increase the representation within the app. These features can include wheelchairs, elbow crutches, prosthetics, or skin varieties such as Vitiligo.     Once a player goes far enough down an interest lane, they will gain access to specialty stores that feature items unique to that interest available for purchase using coins, the in-game currency. Players can wish list a limited number of items from these unique items and get them for free when they become available in the store. This way, even expensive accessories and clothing items are available to patient, casual players who enjoy the avatar customization feature of game play.

​

Characters:

​

Aliferous Academy has a large number of characters that roam the school facility for the player to interact with. Just as with the avatars, these characters will be diverse, inclusive and offer a variety of representations for players to experience. Each character will be available as a host for a specific lane of interest and players can converse with them either by joining their club or team or by exploring the school building and stumbling upon the character.

​

Each character will be available as a contact in the players virtual cellphone once they’ve met, or players can be given contacts by other character hosts if interests are near enough to each other. For example, in the theatre lane, the character host might offer the contact information for the world history host if the topic of world history comes into conversation within the theatre lane. As these two interests are related to each other, players will have an easier time accessing one lane if already heading down the other. Characters will show up as contacts in the virtual cellphone with emojis beside their name so as to easily identify what lane of interest the character is tied to.

​

Example Characters:

​

Abdul is the Vice President of the Garden society. He has short black hair and has a middle tone, olive complexion. He has soft eyes and a kind feel to him. His nose and lips are a little bigger than average and his face has rounded features. He is slightly pudgy with six fingers on his left hand and a small scar on the outer edge of his right eye. Abdul’s style is pretty simple, wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a plaid shirt over the top but he also wears a bit of makeup to make his skin more glowy and always sports a pair of green and yellow gardening gloves in his front pocket. Abdul is soft-spoken but matter of fact. He has strong sense of sustainability about increasing and maintaining the bee population and composting food scraps but is open-minded about other points of view. While he really loves talking about plant species and outdoor plants, he also brings positivity to topics like plant health and indoor plants for better air quality. 

​

Sam is the astronomy club liaison. They are mostly androgynous in appearance, with a large body type despite their thin shoulders. Sam has medium length dark brown dreadlocks that are pulled back together at the back. They have dark brown, almost black eyes and very pale skin with a near perfect complexion and rosy cheeks. Sam’s features are soft and delicate, with a square jaw and stronger brow. Sam wears lots of bracelets and a plain grey t-shirt and black jeans. Sam doesn’t wear any makeup but has a small constellation clip in their hair that adds a cute, feminine element to their otherwise edgy appearance. Sam is a little lazy and will ask for help a lot from the player, which works well to add the mini game aspect to the interest. Same loves constellations and often refers to different cultures and mythologies that are associated with each constellation. While they think astrology is a little silly, they have a large knowledge base in it and can easily and politely laugh about the correspondence of constellations, stars and planets and how they relate to the astrologies presented. Sam will even tell you your horoscope if you ask nicely.

​

Mimi is the theater’s student director. She is very feminine with short, shaggy hair and soft makeup. She has large, hooded eyes and very warm, dark skin with a small amount of acne on the lower half of her face. Her body type is thin but has large hips in comparison. She wears a plain purple dress with a thin white sweater over the top. Mimi loves to talk about different theatre styles from around the world as well as the actual stage, including the back drop, lighting and technical elements like projection and sound effects to increase the quality of story telling. She is very bubbly but becomes aggressive when discussing certain aspects of theatre such as the importance of safety on the stage.

​

Positioning:

​

The Aliferous Academy brand is a seemingly prestigious one. When players enter the world, they should feel like they are joining the elite and that they are en route to bettering themselves through active learning and engaging game play. While the appeal of the brand seems exclusive, the game itself is deceptively inclusive and welcomes all players, allowing them a place to flourish through creativity and freedom of expression.

​

Jackson Cedar Academy features character students that are far from superficial, stereotypical preparatory students. These characters come from all different backgrounds and walks of life with varying back stories that form rich and unique expressions of inclusivity and empowerment. This idea, hidden behind the guise of an elite community will positively affect children who have been left out in the past or have feelings like they don’t quite belong, reinforcing that they can succeed in life by using their unique personality and story.

​

At first look, the brand will be posh and somewhat preppy, but beyond this it will give off an air of open-mindedness, acceptance and hopefulness. The brand will encourage curiosity, self-guided learning, exploration of self, and will instill a confidence in those that associate with the brand even after they’ve moved on from the game, and continue to better themselves as they grow.

​

USPs:

​

Unique Selling Points include:

- initiates the idea of the self as a brand for a young audience

- inclusivity and large range of representation for the tween age group, de-normalization of stereotypes

- gender-less/androgynous customizable avatar

- age-appropriate learning of interests in a text based game

- encyclopedic, yet age-appropriate learning to spark and initiate drive to research further

- individual experience focusing on the interest-based activity meant for private exploration

- social simulation that purposely excludes real world social pressures

- pushes hopefulness, acceptance, encouragement, positivity,  self-expression and betterment

- combines role play, social simulation, customization/personalization, education and mini games

- encourages a combination of reading and playing as a mode of active learning

- safe, innovative and interactive landscape for players to grow

- numerous, diverse character hosts for player to interact with

- a large focus on collaboration and partnership of influential and inspirational tweens and teens

​

Retail:

Aliferous Academy Patch& Stationary

​

Available for purchase online and in store at Chapters Indigo, Walmart, Hot Topic and through the Aliferous Academy website, is the Academy Patch of Jackson Cedar Academy, available both in the basic  blue and yellow wing emblem that is visible on student uniforms within the game as well as a version with ‘Aliferous Academy’ overlayed onto the emblem. The patch is iron-on and can be added to t-shirts, cardigans, backpacks, toques, blazers or anywhere else that you can think of.

​

Also available is stationary, including journals in a soft faux-leather with the Jackson Cedar Academy emblem on the front with ‘Aliferous Academy’ overlayed on top. The inside comes in three versions, which are available in additional, refillable packages, including lined only, blank only or both lined and blank pages. The journal comes in both regular and lock versions, should the child decide to keep their thoughts and drawings private.

​

To go along with the journal, sturdy metal or faux leather page markers are also available in varying styles, including emblem-barring strip or chains that go down the center of the book along the inner spine, or magnetized metal clips that hold the page at the top of the journal.

In style, these products will be similar to items available from the Harry Potter series.

​

Advertising:

​

Advertising for Aliferous Academy will focus on Youtube, which is where a lot of tweens spend a lot of their time. Advertising will also be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr, in similar manners and then in the tween magazines listed in PR, both online and in print.

Image Based Advertisements:

1. a host character in front of Jackson Cedar Academy and will be overlayed with ‘Aliferous Academy, who will you be? Download now’ and the winged logo. This will have several variations using different characters to appeal to different kids. This ad will utilize display ads and overlay ads on desktop. They will also have online/offline versions for magazines.

2. a host character with their club in the background and overlayed text which asks a question to entice the user. An example would be Sam, the astronomy liaison, in the planetarium asking users to “Join the astronomy club.” These too will have several varieties, showing off different characters and their interests. This ad will utilize display ads and overlays ads on desktop. They will also have online/offline versions for magazines.

Animation Based Advertisements:

3. slight animation to capture the users attention, showing a host character in front of their interest, asking a question that would be answered by playing that lane of interest in the game. An example would be Mimi, the student director of the drama club, standing at the side of the stage in her backstage, all black uniform, headset and clipboard saying, “Our lead character is looking a little feverish and the play is about to start! What should we do?” with the options “Send them to the nurse and put the understudy in.” and “Grab some cold medicine from the nurse.” These ads will be display ads on Youtube but also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr, within the feeds.

4. Animated versions of imaged based advertisement 1.

5. Animated versions of imaged based advertisement 2.

Video Based Advertisements:

6. bumper ad. These short ads will be video versions of advertisements 1&4 and 2&5. These ads will be 6 seconds on Youtube, both desktop and mobile.

7. non-skippable ad. These ads will be more direct and will have highlights from the dialogue, mini games and customizable features, with text in between clips. Text will be “Meet new friends. Explore the Academy. Discover new clubs. Play awesome mini games. Customize your own avatar. Build your dream room. These ads will be 20 seconds long on Youtube, both desktop and mobile.”

8. skippable ad. Derek asks you to join the science club and a virtual finger will click ‘join’. Then it will show game play of mini games and dialogue discussion and the science shop with clothes and accessories and room decor to purchase, also the wish list and the main store, getting an item for free from the wish list. All of this will be like a trailer, showing short clips very quickly. These ads will be roughly 50 seconds on Youtube, both desktop and mobile.

​

Social Media:

​

Social media content will focus on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr with less focus on Facebook. Social media will make use of the hash tag #aliferousacademy. All social media platforms will engage with followers by replying to comments and tweets while maintaining the open-minded, understanding and up-beat positioning of the brand.

​

Instagram:

This platform will focus on the entire 8-12 age group, posting at least 2 times a week at 9am and 5pm on Friday and Saturday. These posts will feature images, short animations and videos that are very visual in order to engage kids. Instagram posts will vary but include:

1. a host character in their club space with lines of dialogue from their interest lane, talking about or asking questions from later in the dialogue with more intermediate information that will take players a while to get to within the lane. In the top corner is the Aliferous winged logo with the words ‘sneak peek’.

2. content previews for either the avatars or bedroom decor. This post will have a static background with one item being swapped out. For example, an avatar with just a shirt or jacket being swapped out and changing the look.

3. story polls with potential icons for new lanes of play with options for players to interact with. ‘What interest would you like to see next? Music or Baseball?’

4. How would a character look if ___? Swipe to see the looks. Series of images post where the first image has a game character in their usual attire. The next 3 or 4 has the same character with a different look or image or interest. For example. ‘How would Abdul look if he were in the drama club?’ First it would show him in his regular gardening clothes and then it would show 3 or 4 different outfits he might wear if he was part of the drama club. The first outfit would be a little flowing for better movement with a similar makeup style to the one he usually has. The second outfit would be a costume like Marius from Les Mis. The third outfit would be a back stage outfit with all black clothing, a clipboard and a head set.

5. a sneak peek of a new update with items and the host visible. It might read, ‘Gardening Update! Get the newest items and decor, discover new mini games and learn all about succulents!’ with Abdul holding a cactus and smiling sweetly.

6. new interest announcements. Would show the icon for the new interest and have a blurred out background to add mystery. ‘New Interest: Music!’

7. Caption this posts. Would show a character in some kind of silly or embarrassing situation and would invite viewers to comment with a funny caption for the image.

8.Updates of collaborations with links to the Youtubers.

​

Twitter:

This platform will focus on the older of the target audience, playing mostly to the 11 and 12 year olds. Posts will be at least 2 times a week on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm and 5pm. Content for twitter will make use of hash tags and have more communicative content than other platforms.

9. feel-good statements and posts, words of encouragement and/or quotes from influential celebrities and famous persons who are good role models for children.

10.retweets of positive user reviews on twitter.

11. questions to the audience such as ‘what interest are you learning about now?’

12.posts using trending hash tags and piggybacking on them to relate them directly to the brand and to the game.

13. polls that ask things like, ‘what character would you be friends with in real life’, ‘which character is most life you’, ‘does you avatar look like you’.

14. text only version of post 3.

15. text only version of post 5.

16. text only version of post 6.

17. more posts of type 7.

​

Tumblr:

This platform will also focus more on the older end of the group, directing content towards 10-12 year olds. There will be at least two posts a week, with one at Sunday 6pm. It will make use of images and short animations in a similar way to Instagram. Tumblr posts will be nearly identical to posts 1,2,5,6,8,9,11,13.

​

Facebook:

This platform will be slightly parent skewed and will post at least two times a week on Saturdays and Sundays, 1pm and 3pm. Facebook posts will be nearly identical to posts 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11

​

Competition:

Club Penguin Island

​

Disney’s Club Penguin Island is a massively multi-player online role-playing game available on Android, iOS, Windows & Mac, set in the Club Penguin universe as the successor to the original MMORPG, Club Penguin. The game’s target age is 8+ and contains ads. The app includes a purchasable membership that extends the activity and customizable features in the game.

​

In Club Penguin Island, players enter the penguin community and customize their own penguin avatar and personal  igloo home. Players can complete daily challenges and go on adventures to progress through the game by increasing their penguin level. Players can interact online with other players through free-text chat and can host parties at their igloo, inviting other players to join them. As well, the app has a variety of mini-games to offer, which can earn the player experience towards their level and coins to purchase various clothing and decor.

​

The game promotes individuality, adventure and exploration with a large consumerist element. Players can interact with the three dimensional environment in joystick fashion by holding the virtual joystick in the direction of travel for their penguin and can tap buttons to initiate an action.

Club Penguin Island’s style is fun but edgy with a lot or round, organic forms and exaggerated features and a plastic-feel like you could reach in and grab a rubber figurine or hard plastic penguin with matching play set.

Similarities

- social simulation mobile game

- customizable avatar and home space

- mini games and activities

- coins to purchase customizable items

- promotion of individuality

Differences  

Club Penguin Island

- animal characters in island setting

- multi-player interaction

- 3D environment and modeled characters, free roaming within the space

- synthetic rubber/plasticy aesthetic

- limited educational appeal

- lack of fixed supporting character cast

- adventure and exploration focus

- strong presence of social element, party formation, community activity

​

Competition:

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

​

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a free-to-play social simulation mobile game from the Animal Crossing Franchise where players take on the role of campsite manager. The app is developed and published by Nintendo and is available for Android and iOS, recommended for ages 8+.

​

In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, players customize their avatar and their campsite to their liking and can chat with locals to develop friendships with them. Players move their avatar through the 3D environment by either tapping or swiping to direct their character or they can select the map to drive their camper to a new location and explore the park.

​

Players can do various recreational activities to grow their collection by catching fish and bugs or crafting new furniture and amenities for their campsite. The app is also multi-player and players can connect in real time with friends who also play in order to help each other advance in the game. 

In-app purchases can also be used to help the player progress through the purchase of ‘leaf tickets’, which is the in-game currency.

As in all Animal Crossing games, the game’s visual style is bright, fun and cute, featuring an abundance of animal characters who are consistent throughout the series.

​

Pocket Camp’s most prominent characters include:

Isabelle, the fun-loving and wonderfully helpful puppy who initiates the game by handing the campsite over to the player to maintain.

Cyrus & Reese, the craftsmen husband & wife Llama’s who encourage entrepreneurial spirit through running their crafting business at the campsite.

Giovanni, Beppe & Carlo, the ‘OK Mechanic’ crows who keep the player’s camper running smoothly.

Similarities

- Free-to-play social simulation mobile game

- Customizable avatar and decorated home space

- inclusion of activities/mini-games

- in-app purchase of game currency

- suite of unique characters to guide player through game

- potential for collecting

- themes that encourage individuality, positivity, self-reliance, friendship

Differences

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

- animal characters in camp/park setting

- multi-player interaction

- 3D environment and modeled characters, free roaming within the space

- colourful, round, plush, cute aesthetic and atmosphere

- limited educational appeal

- limited interest development, strictly park/nature/camping

activities in park environment

- strong presence of social element, community activity

​

Competition:

High School Story

​

High School Story is a free-to-play mobile role-playing social simulation game where players interact with different storylines as the nerd, the jock or the prep,  available on iOS and Android. The app is developed and published by Pixelberry Studios.  In the game, players can customize their own avatar and decide what students are administered into the school. Battle against another high school to come out on top at homecoming or go to cheerleading camp to learn how to work your pom poms and cheer your team on. Players can date crushes or play matchmaker to other game characters and can decorate the school to suit their desires, earning coins by maintaining the facilities they build. Players can even throw parties or go on adventures to earn points and unlock new characters to play as.

Players can interact with classmate characters by choosing from a few text-based options that will result in different outcomes and impact the relationship with that character.

Similarities:

- mobile social simulation

- cast of student characters to interact with

- educational mini games/ activities

- similar visual style with text-based character interaction in a school setting

Differences:

High School Story

- emphasizes popularity and reinforces stereotypes

- encourages popularity and partying

- promotes friendship as a means for popularity and success

- places emphasis on being liked

- limited educational appeal

- supports classmate ‘types’

- perpetuates negative connotations of interest in learning and education

(Mission Nerdpossible to befriend a nerd) and adds a competitive challenge

to friendship

- promotes recreational dating and places emphasis on wanting a

hot’ partner to date

- control of other classmate’s actions and appearances

Aliferous Academy