The Book Monster & The Undercover Octopus: a week of game-making in Chatham

Posted on August 22nd, 2024

What do you get when you spend a week making a phone game with 15 young people aged 8-13, focused on local history? You get a mad, creative game set in a library, where a Book Monster is devouring local history stories, and players must reconnect with these tales to stop it. Oh, and there’s a librarian who turns out to be an undercover octopus hiding in plain sight from the very book the Book Monster wants to consume!

We recently wrapped up this fun week of game-making with some fantastic young people in Chatham, collaborating with The University of Kent’s Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries. The project aims to build connections to local history through digital play, in anticipation of the opening of Kent’s new creative technologies hub, Docking Station. 

We began the week landing in the space with the young people- most of whom had never met – and helping them to connect as creatives. We explored the elements of a game, and how we can tweak a game system to make it more fun or better suit our needs. On the second day, we introduced the local space we would be building our game in: Chatham Library, which opens up onto the River Medway. Together we explored the space, uncovered what the young people found interesting about it, and thought about what games could be played there.

Next, we began to unpack some local stories, shared by a local historian, to find which of the stories the group were excited by. We also explored storytelling through games and how we might thread through a narrative for players to discover using Coney’s playful digital tools. By Wednesday, the group was pooling their new skills and knowledge to create games based on the history they had learned, in the playspace they’d be using.

They developed games about searching for mines (like the Medway Queen paddleboat did), bravery (inspired by the infamous Lion Queen) and disguise (like the women who disguised themselves to serve in the navy). We also discussed how to tie these historical tales together within the library setting, which characters players might meet in our game, and what challenges they may be facing. This brainstorming process led us to the story of The Book Monster. Here’s the story of the prototype game:

A librarian discovers that his favourite book—written by his great-great-great-great-grandma Geraldine—has lost all its stories. The players find a secret note from Geraldine, urging them to contact the Library Emergency Hotline, run by the undercover Octopus. The Octopus reveals that the Book Monster is stealing stories and characters from unread books, and Geraldine’s book is in danger. The players embark on an adventure to restore the stories, solving riddles and challenges throughout the library and the park, all while the Book Monster grows more furious. Finally, they complete a ritual to banish the Monster, return the stories, and report their success to the Librarian, saving his ancestor and local history.

One of the particpants, aged 11, summed up the experience:

“I loved this so much! Thank you for helping me learn about Chatham history and how to make games. It’s made me more confident, and I’ve learned to be kind to others. If I could do this again, I’d say yes instantly!”

Next, we’ll be taking the young people’s brilliant ideas and developing this game for the University of Kent, packed with the young people’s ideas and some magical flourishes from us at Coney. The game will be available for families to play at the library as part of the Electric Medway Festival this autumn.

The week was led by Toby Peach, Anoushka Bonwick, and Su Hurst, with support from Pavlos Christodoulou, Brigitte Adela, and Emily Davis.