The Little Detective

The video game ‘The Little Detective’ is a point and click game made on Scratch. Participants will have to solve an issue a riddle left by their ‘grandfather’ to find his treasure. To find responses to questions asked by the guardian of the treasure room, players will need to do some online research. Before starting the game, leave the computers off and discuss with participants. As a primer, as the following questions: Have you used the internet? Have you often searched for information about your interests? Depending on their responses, develop the following points:

• The internet allows us to find information on anything we’re interested in.
• An efficient way to find information is to search webpages by keyword.
• To find exact information, a user may make several searches and find different sources to be assured of the reliability of the data they find.
• Sometimes, connections need to be found between several types of information or sources. These can be opened in different tabs and compared to easily find what links them.

Tell participants they’ll be becoming detectives, so they can be introduced to online research.

Divide the group into pairs. As this is happening, turn on the computers and give one to each pair.

After discussing with participants on how they use the internet, introduce the game. In advance, you will have opened the Scratch game ‘The Little Detective’ in the browser. Game link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/394487949

Game explanation: Players progress in the game by searching for a secret code allowing them to collect the treasure. To find it, they will need to get some information on a painting and on a book, then find what these two things have in common. Clues are distributed around the castle where the players will lead the investigation. They will therefore have research leads to follow in order to open the door to the Treasure Room.

Before clicking the ‘Enter’ button, ask participants to quickly read the tutorial by clicking on ‘How to Play‘. This game can be played in two ways depending on the material available:

By Group: You have one computer per pair. Each player moves through the game at their own pace. The facilitator follows the progression of the players and remains available to answer possible questions. For example, if they cannot find the link between the painting and the book, you can suggest hints: ‘Have you compared the descriptions of the two works (in different tabs)?’ ‘Have you written down the essential information?’ ‘Have you found the hidden mini-game?’ If participants can’t progress, the facilitator can give an additional hint:

• Ask players to speak to the Treasure Room Guardian. Ask these questions:
• ‘Who is the writer in the painting on the first floor?’
• ‘Can someone tell me a book by Jules Verne about going around the world?’ If no one has an answer, ask them to look for the answer online.

Collectively: You have one computer per pair and one projector. The game is played on each computer and displayed via the projector. Participants and facilitators progress at the same pace by researching together. Start by entering the castle, then ask participants where they would like to explore first. Think about making each pair note important information on a piece of paper. Explore the game. When players choose to go to the first floor, ask them to write down the name of the painting and the man whose portrait is displayed. Next, propose that they search for information on the two hints. Leave them a few minutes to do so, then ask the following questions: ‘Who was Clause Monet?’ ‘Who was Jules Verne?’ ‘What year was this painting painted?’ To find the answer, advise participants to go to Monet’s Wikipedia page. Next, quickly show them how to search through a webpage using keywords (Ctrl+F). Try searching for the words ‘painting’ or ‘Monet’. Show participants that this function means a user can immediately underline the word they are looking for upon arriving at a webpage. Next, ask them to search for the name of the painting Impression, Sunrise to find more information on it. Next ask the question: ‘On what date did Claude Monet paint this painting?’ Write the response on a piece of paper. Next, according to how players are progressing, continue to explore areas or go to the Treasure Room. If they want to speak to the Guardian of the Treasure Room before going to the first floor, ask them to write down the three questions:

• Which artistic movement is associated with Monet’s paintings?
• In which book by Jules Verne do we find the adventures of Captain Nemo and his crew?
• What is the secret code?

The answers to the first two questions can be found easily by doing a quick online search. To find the secret code, players will need to find a link between two works, one written by Jules Verne and the other painted by Monet. To guide participants, ask these questions:

• ‘Who is the writer in the photograph on the first floor?’
• ‘Can someone tell me a book by Jules Verne about going around the world?’ If no one has an answer, ask them to look for the answer online.

Once the answer is found (‘Around the World in 80 Days‘), ask participants to write down some details about the book. Next, ask them to read out the notes they have taken. We now have several details to compare:

• The dates on which Around the World in 80 Days and 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
• The date on which Impression, Sunrise was painted by Claude Monet.

‘What is the point in common between the painting and the book Around the World in 80 Days?‘ Answer: these two works were released in the same year: 1872. Now, go back to the Guardian. Try to respond with 1872 as the password. What happens next? Well done!

After finishing the game, discuss with participants. They should now be able to:

• Find information online, for example artworks and their date of publication
• Search a webpage by keyword, with Ctrl+F
• Compare several webpages to find precise information