A new version of the “John and the District” educational game has been created

The team of the Jonas Lankutis Public Library of the Klaipėda District Municipality presented a new version of the educational board game “John and the District” at the Klaipėda Drama Theater. It has become an interactive floor game. The first to try it were students of the 5b class of Gargžda “Minijos” pro-gymnasium, who won the competition organized by the library.
An interesting presentation – in the theater
The presentation of the new version of the educational game “John and the district” took place in an unusual environment – the theater. September 20 In Klaipėda’s drama theater “Jonas ir rajonas”, the hero Jonas together with the support of the audience and the team members of the football club “Banga” thunderously “started” the game. “John and the district” consists of as many as 300 questions about 11 wards of the Klaipėda district. The initial version of this board game was created when the world was under quarantine, but this project did not end there, they wanted to develop it further. “While already traveling with the board game “John and the district”, we thought that there is no need to stop, we need to create something interactive. We decided that we want a floor game, said Neringa Birbalienė, head of the children’s and youth literature department of the library. – I’ve been living with this project for the second year, I’m glad that today “Jonas ir rajonas” has a different face.”
Offered by a football club
When developing the game, the creative team tried to make the idea reflect Gargždus, it was important that everyone knew where it came from. The main goal of the game is to kick the ball to the correct answer in the soccer goal. “We wanted not to run away from football, after all, it is an association with Gargždai. “Banga” soccer club also gave the idea for the colors of the game teams, which are blue and orange,” revealed acting library director Aurelija Butkutė-Norkevičienė.
The creator of the game, Darius Šoparas, did not hide that it took a lot of effort to implement the idea of ​​the game, although it seems very simple and easy to play. The idea started to mature already last summer, and the development of the software alone took 3 months. A. Butkutė-Norkevičienė also confirmed that she had great difficulties with technical solutions. “Interactive gaming machines are usually already sold with certain games and cannot be modified, so the most difficult task was to solve everything technically. However, we found very good game developers willing to help us in a friendly way, – said A. Butkutė-Norkevičienė. – Today, when the children tried it out for the first time, we saw mistakes and problems, we will start to fix them as soon as possible and improve everything.
The first participants were surprised by the game, they liked to spend their time actively. “The new version of the game left a good impression. It’s a good opportunity for children to get moving. You need to be able to interest the youth of today, and this idea does it perfectly with the help of football,” said mother Monika, who accompanied the fifth-graders to the event. It is true that some children agreed that the game needs to be improved, because when answering the questions, they aimed at one side of the goal, and the ball flew to the other.
John is preparing for a trip
According to the creative team, the library gives meaning to friendship, camaraderie and partnership. Therefore, in a few weeks, the hero of the game, John, will start traveling and introducing the game to as many people as possible. At first, they will visit 10 libraries of Western Lithuania, then they will travel all over Western Lithuania or invite everyone to come to the Children’s and Youth Literature Department of the Jonas Lankutis Public Library of the Klaipėda District Municipality. According to A. Butkutė-Norkevičienė, “John and the district” can be played by everyone. “You always learn something new when you play. Not even all adults know the answers. It makes sense that the questions are about the whole district, not only about Gargždi. The game’s mission is to interactively tell both children and adults about the Klaipėda district, which has a very interesting history and culture, which is very important in Lithuania and has a strong economic potential”, the interviewee shared her thoughts.