GAINESVILLE – In college, Lindsey Tropf spent about one-third of her time playing World of Warcraft.
Tropf and her boyfriend, now husband, knew an “absurd amount” of information about the fantasy world they inhabited online in the role-playing game. But they had gained all that knowledge without really trying.
Their effortless absorption sparked an idea for Tropf: what if kids used video games to learn the same way? What if she could engineer a game to purposefully teach kids valuable concepts without them even noticing?
Tropf founded Immersed Games in 2013 to do just that.
“Science is a great area for video games because it has a lot of variables,” Tropf said. “It’s all about experimentation and trial and error. It lends itself so beautifully to gaming.”
Tyto Online, the first game from the Gainesville, Fla., based company, follows a main character as he or she navigates a new planet and builds an ecosystem. The game is not violent. It takes place in a fictional 3D world and you live on a fantasy planet where you can build and decorate your own apartment, explore the landscape, complete nature quests and interact with other characters. It’s basically one of those games where you can run around and do whatever you want.
A preview of the game is available as an offline game for PC and Mac. It costs $6.99 to download through Steam, an online game distribution platform. Tropf and her team are finalizing the online version for a limited release in November for a $5 monthly subscription.
Tropf has raised a total of $525,000 in investments and is currently participating in the Intel Education Accelerator in Silicon Valley. The accelerator gives edtech startups access to Intel mentorship and guidance as well as the opportunity to secure up to $100,000 from Intel Capital.
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