Matching Safari

Kids Game Application:
Matching Safari is a mobile memory game application that is targeted toward kids between the ages of 4-8 years of age. The challenge was to create a gaming application to help kids learn animal names while improving their memory skills. The game is brightly colored and has the option to turn on or off music and sound effects in the game settings. This user-friendly game design will have the child playing right away after downloading.

Problem Statement:
Some gaming apps can create unrealistic expectations about the real world and cause children to have an inaccurate understanding of what is possible or acceptable. Some gaming apps also may contain inappropriate content, such as violence or sexual content, that is not appropriate for young children.

Research:
Research is fundamental in the process of designing a game for children. Since I Have young kids myself I always paid attention to what kind of games they played. It was nice to have my own focus group and I took note of how often they would play certain games on their mobile devices. I compared a handful of games by making notes of the game’s theme, color, and user-friendly design during the research process.

User Flow:
The flow structure is very simple and straight forward and I aimed to make it as easy as possible for kids to understand and start playing the game right away.

Visual Design:
Colorful, Simple, and easy to play for any age was the goal. Using bright colors and simple animal illustrations didn’t overstimulate the child while playing. The pattern on the memory card was designed to be neutral design so it would compete with the animal illustration when flipped over. The colors of the buttons and switch/slider in the games were very straightforward. Green for play/on/easy and Red for Hard/Off.

Programs Used:
Figma and Adobe Illustrator