We’re a little behind…

Yesterday some folks in the office realized that the website for our parent company, Archimage, is completely out of date. We’re doing a ton of projects that involve Games for Health, and that’s not mentioned at all on the site. Crazy! So I’ve been assigned to write some things to fix this. That got me thinking. I should really do some more explaining about Serious Games for Health on the Playnormous site too.

Google a topic, find a friend.

I decided to do a little Googling as I always do, just to get my head wrapped around what I might cover to explain Serious Games for Health. Of course, the Serious Games for Health organization website came up. Problem with that site is that it’s rarely updated. So I went to the next search result. Awesome! The number two spot ended up being friend Elaine Alhadeff who runs the Future-Making Serious Games blog. Elaine has been kind enough to blog about us several times, including earlier this week with her post Playnormous Serious Games Broadening Kids Healthy Choices. The first to blog about our new game Juice Jumble! Elaine also talked about Food Fury back in April in her post Serious Gaming For Health Education and Behavior Change.

By jove, it’s brilliant!

Then I got to thinking again. I don’t really need to do too much in this post to introduce you to the idea of Serious Games for Health. Elaine has already done it! So visit Elaine’s blog to read anything and everything you’d ever want to know about Serious Games and Serious Games for Health. Especially take a look at the Health Games and Med Games sections. Then, visit her website to SEE anything and everything you’d ever want to know about Serious Games and Serious Games for Health.

And featuring…

I was so excited to see the newest edition of Nutrition and Your Child USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center newsletter in my inbox the other day. They always have amazing things to share. In this issue, read all about:

• New ways researchers are define a child’s weight and what’s “normal.”
• How portion size impacts childhood eating.
• Why families purchase certain items versus others. (Featuring our own Dr. Tom Baranowski!)
• Evaluate how healthy your diet really is…by using your grocery receipts. (Featuring our own Dr. Cullen!)
• New guidelines for keeping your kids eating healthy now and for life. (Featuring our own Dr. Nicklas!)

To read more about our research partners, click here to view the Friends and Medical Research Partners of Playnormous page!

Jumble your juice.

Can you believe it? Juice Jumble is up and running. Everyone here worked very hard to get this game out on time so kudos to all.

This is a tasty little game all about fruit juice…or lack thereof. 100% fruit juice, 100% juice blends, juice drinks, fruit drinks, and fruit-flavored drinks. I will say that the power-ups are AWESOME! I won’t spoil this for you. You’ll have to play the game. I’ve both tested and played the game…it’s very challenging so be prepared. There is a secret to doing well in this game, though. There’s a kind of “picture code” on the tiles (no, not the little colored corners–that’s too easy). Can you figure out what it is?

Tiki tick-tock monster.

Did you see The Tiki Monster? Is he what you expected? Well, not only is The Tiki Monster featured on the opening screen and in the instructions, but he’s also a clock in the game! We welcome COMMENTS so play Juice Jumble and let us know what you think.

Tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki Monster.

I love the theme for our third game, Juice Jumble, which will be released tomorrow (unless something “royally horrible” occurs, as Mckee told me earlier today). Juice Jumble has a tiki theme, just in time for summer. Mmmm…all three of those drinks look fabulous with the high being 98 degrees F here in Houston today.

We’re revealing a new monster character with Juice Jumble. I’ve dubbed him The Tiki Monster and got approval from his creator, Iva, just now. So The Tiki Monster it is!

Can you guess what our Tiki Monster looks like? I bet you’ll never guess…I KNOW you’ll never guess. Check back tomorrow for the official release of The Tiki Monster and Juice Jumble!

In need of some warm bodies.

We have so much going on here at Playnormous that it’s hard to keep up just blogging about it. So many exciting things, so many new games, so many new features, so little time. We have so much going on in fact that we don’t have enough people to get it all done. So, we’re looking for some additional warm bodies for the office. Well, not just warm bodies, but warm bodies that know how to program.

Great programmers…come out, come out, wherever you are!

One of our biggest needs is for programmers: Computer Game Programmers, Flash Programmers, and General Programmers. We need team players. Creative thinkers. Flexible learners. Oh, and people with a solid background in programming and mathematics of course. Flash artists… we want you, too.

More details to come on specific job descriptions and such. Jon and Mckee are working on getting all the technical jargon together.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in joining the Playnormous team, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Contact Us” mailbox. That will send a message our head honcho. Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite…hard.