Valiant Hearts: The Great War

"Hungry for more, the war was not yet over. Its appetite was infinite."

I don't remember learning much about The Great War aka WWI. I remember trench warfare, mustard gas, and not much else. I pretty much went into this game blind, with little background knowledge. It was overall, a great pleasure.

This is the story of Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Players control four characters in chapters of this game, piecing together a rich story of how these individuals, each with different backgrounds and motives, come together as if through destiny to help each other in the conflict known as "WWI" or "The Great War". Here are their portraits.

The Characters:

Emile, a French farmer, is father to a daughter whose husband, a German, is deported back to Germany at the onset of the war. Emile is then drafted into the French army and sent to the front lines.

Karl, a young German farmer married to Emile's daughter, is recruited into the German ranks after being deported from Emile's farm in France. He runs into Emile on the battlefield but is captured and sent to a POW camp. He only wishes to go home.

Freddie, an American emigrant, joins the British forces before the US jumps into the war. He has a personal vendetta against a particular German Baron and fights for vengeance and patriotism.

Anna, a Belgian veterinarian, gets caught up in patriotism and decides to head to the front-lines to treat the wounded. Once there, she experiences the horrors of war, but is motivated to push on to rescue her captive father.

Walt, a war-dog, is befriended by the main characters and aids in their endeavors loyally. Some argue that the story is told from his perspective.

Game Mechanics

Told by means of animated comic strips, Valiant Hearts brings the heavy nature of WWI down to a level one can comprehend and enjoy, yet still feel the impact of the war itself. There is very little dialogue, forcing the player to focus on the main character's actions and nature of the missions.

There are many parts where Valiant Hearts feels like a game (as it should because, well, it is a game) like the driving scenes that are part rhythm game and part Frogger. However, this is what makes the game engaging. Not everyone will enjoy the game for its historical content as I was, but simple things like this break up the pace, like a typical "energizer" strategy in teaching pedagogy to keep students from falling asleep during lecture.

The "Taxi CanCan" 

One more important bit of gameplay is finding "collectibles." Each level has a number of these items scattered about, and collecting them rewards the player with an entry in the dossier. Typically, these collectibles are unique features of the level. For instance, in the level where you fight in the trenches, you might collect a sock or a gas mask, and the dossier entry would include an educational bit about its importance to the time. This is another piece of pedagogy that allows players to take a step back from the comical play and learn about the reality of the war. It is a grim reminder of what actually happened and an educational bit about WWI.

This fact found in the game teaches about how WWI changed with the addition of armored vehicles.

Teaching Points

Valiant Hearts is a "valiant" attempt to retell the heroism and tragedies of The Great War. It can be taught and used to initiate many lessons in history. It is riddled with facts that an educator can guide students to finding and reading, then connecting their importance to the game, the level, and the history of the war itself. Students are working to find this information (and this way beats looking it up in a dictionary or textbook any day.)

From a Language Arts perspective, an educator would focus on the concept of "fragmented stories" and "point of view" in telling stories. Guide students in putting the story that they are witnessing into their own words, or describing the main characters. Ask them what actions correlate with what descriptions (ex. Freddy = fearless because always charging into battle). Like any good book, have the students fall in love with the characters, relate to them, and use words to tell their story.

StupidSensei's Grade

At times, the relentless back and forth of puzzle solving got the best of me, but I managed to get immersed in the "combat" and intensity of many of the scenes and levels. I enjoyed and appreciated the learning opportunities provided by the dossier. This game took me about 6 hours to complete, and I can see pairs or groups completing this together to relative success, provided the educator can keep them on task (perhaps with a tasklist to guide them through completing the game or finding collectibles.) This game gets a solid A.

I hope you enjoy this read! That ending though....

~StupidSensei

Papo & Yo

A short story of a boy and his Monster

I guess you could say I've lived a sheltered life, although I like to think of it instead as a protected and loved one. However, not everyone has had the same experience as I have had growing up, and I see that apparent in the lives of some of my students. Teaching in less affluent and more transient parts of the neighborhood has exposed me to children who have gone through some rougher parts of growing up. I can only imagine what it is like to be one of these students living in a broken or abusive and unstable home. Fortunately, there is one game that attempts to re-imagine this experience and present it in such a way that engages players regardless of their history with themes of abuse and violence.

This is the story of Papo & Yo

Papo & Yo is a game by Minority Media that tells the tale of a boy named Quico who, like many other kids, lives in his own imagination. Players take the role of Quico as he searches for his sister with his robot - Lula - and his large beast of a friend - "Monster". Together they make their way through a puzzling labyrinth themed like a surreal South American Favela, unraveling a touching, revealing, and at times disturbing relationship between Quico and Monster. 

Beneath the basic exterior of simple gameplay (jumping, platforming, activating switches, moving object from point A to point B, etc.) and beautiful artistry of the landscape, there lies a very profound story and experience. With the use of very few text and employing simple pictures and tutorials to teach the game mechanics, the game puts players in the shoes of a child who must learn through trial and error. Then, it introduces characters with unique interactions to the player, and all interactions are suggestive of something more in the boy's reality.

[WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD]

This game has little to do with actual text and everything to do with metaphor. Your interactions with the characters and actions in the imagined favela tell an alternative story of Quico's reality. Although nothing is revealed to you in full until the end, Quico struggles with abuse by his father at home, and rationalizes it by living in his imagination - his safe place. Monster is a manifestation of his father in Quico's imagination. Monster is typically calm and usually fast asleep. You play with him, guide him along with fruits, even bounce on his belly when he's taking a nap. However, he loves frogs, but they induce in him a fierce rage when ingested. When he is enraged, Monster chases you around, slapping you and sending you flying. They player does not die or get hurt, but when Monster changes, the game suddenly becomes dark and the music turns frightening. You are compelled to run, to hide from Monster. This is the key element of the game, simulating what it's like to be abused.

Monster before eating a frog and after eating a frog

The story concludes with you leading Monster to another plane where you replay the scenes of your life. The fanciful world is shown to be a parallel of Quico's reality. Then, you are challenged with leading an enraged Monster to a bed where he is put to sleep for good, with you as the agent. This seemed to resemble a trial and you were the prime witness indicting your father for abuse. At this point, the story ends, the future of Quico uncertain. 

The game reveals Quico's reality when you transform statues of Monster into statues of your father.

Teaching Points:

Papo & Yo presents a great opportunity to teach the theme of child abuse, alcoholism, and ultimately strategies for dealing with crises. We have Quico, who is constantly running. That's all he can really do. He cannot fight, he cannot really hide. All he can do is run and try to "reason" with Monster. I see this as a learning opportunity for students, not just in seeing the connection in the game and making it to their own lives, but also figuring out what other ways of dealing with conflict are there.

From a literary perspective, this game is riddled with opportunities to teach metaphor and symbolism. Quico's father is a monster. Educators can teach students to see more into the game mechanic just like we teach students to read into the writing mechanic. Why is the only thing Quico can do is run? Why is it that the setting is of a run down favela and not a mansion or a jungle? These questions probe the player's mind as they are experiencing the game and hopefully incite critical thinking and opportunity for discussion and learning.

StupidSensei's Grade:

This story is an absolute A+ for its story and game design. It is simple enough that nearly everyone can pick it up and play but immersive enough in theme that students of any background can feel engaged. I was able to power through this game in a little over 3 hours, and it is organized in chapters so creating lesson plans around this game might be quite simple. It is $15 via the HumbleStore which I find to be reasonable considering a good book is about that price and there is yet no free borrow service for games. I highly recommend this title for educators to address this issue.

Happy reading and beware of frogs!

~StupidSensei