The Making of LexicaA Truly Massive Tablet Game

Jesse Schell

@jesseschell

GDC 2015

Problem: • Many kids start opting out of reading in middle school.

Transformational Goal: •Get them to become lifelong readers.

Lexica Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj9AWWWBA_w

Tyger Cadence

Emma Tom

Cheshire Heidi Lumen Marian

Nemo

Raven Baba Yaga

Telltale

The Secret GardenThe Secret SharerThe Shadow-LineThe Sign of the FourThe Song of the LarkThe Story GirlThe Story of the AmuletThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeThe Swiss Family RobinsonThe Talented Tenth: The Negro ProblemThe Thirty-Nine StepsThe Three MusketeersThe Time MachineThe Tin Woodman of OzThe War of the WorldsThe Warlord of MarsThe Witch of AtlasThe Woman in WhiteThe Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Works of Edgar Allan PoeThree Ghost StoriesThrough the Looking-GlassThuvia, Maid of MarsTik-Tok of OzTom Sawyer, DetectiveTreasure IslandTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaTwice-Told TalesTwo Years Before the MastUncle Tom's CabinUnderstood BetsyUp From Slavery: An AutobiographyWalden and Civil DisobedienceWhite FangWoman's Work in the Civil War: A Record of Heroism, Patriotism and PatienceWuthering Heights

The Lost Princess of OzThe Lost WorldThe Magic of OzThe Magnificent AmbersonsThe Man in the Iron MaskThe Man Who Was Thursday: A NightmareThe Man Who Would Be KingThe Marvelous Land of OzThe Master of the WorldThe Memoirs of Sherlock HolmesThe Moon and SixpenceThe MoonstoneThe Mysterious Affair at StylesThe Mysterious IslandThe Mysterious StrangerThe Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of NantucketThe Patchwork Girl of OzThe PathfinderThe People That Time ForgotThe Phoenix and the CarpetThe Picture of Dorian GrayThe PioneersThe PrairieThe Prince and the PauperThe Princess and CurdieThe Prisoner of ZendaThe Railway ChildrenThe Red Badge of CourageThe Red House MysteryThe Red RoomThe Return of Sherlock HolmesThe Rime of the Ancient MarinerThe Rise of Silas LaphamThe Road to OzThe Scarecrow of OzThe Scarlet PimpernelThe Sea-HawkThe Sea-WolfThe Second Jungle BookThe Secret Adversary

A Boy's WillA Christmas CarolA Confederate Girl's DiaryA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtA House of PomegranatesA Journal of the Plague YearA Journey to the Center of the EarthA Lady's Life in the Rocky MountainsA Little PrincessA Midsummer Night's DreamA Princess of MarsA Study in ScarletA Tale of Two CitiesAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAllan and the Holy FlowerAllan QuatermainAllan's WifeAmerican PoetryAnne of AvonleaAnne of Green GablesAnne of the IslandAnne's House of DreamsAyesha: The Return of SheBefore AdamBlack BeautyCaptain BloodCaptains CourageousChild of StormCrome YellowCyrano de BergeracDavid CopperfieldDeclaration of IndependenceDorothy and the Wizard in OzDraculaDracula's GuestDublinersEight Hundred Leagues on the AmazonEmmaEthan FromeFifty-One TalesFinishedFive Children and It

Flappers and PhilosophersFrankensteinFurther Chronicles of AvonleaGlinda of OzGreat ExpectationsGreenmantleGulliver's TravelsHans Brinker; or, The Silver SkatesHeidiHowards EndIncidents in the Life of a Slave GirlIvanhoeJane EyreJungle Tales of TarzanKazanKidnappedKilmeny of the OrchardKimKing Arthur and the Knights of the Round TableKing Solomon's MinesLife on the MississippiLittle MenLittle WomenMain StreetMaiwa's Revenge; or, The War of the Little HandMartin EdenMistress WildingMoby-Dick; or, The WhaleMosses from an Old Manse and Other StoriesMy ÁntoniaMy Father's DragonNarrative of the Life of Frederick DouglassNew Arabian NightsNorthanger AbbeyO Pioneers!Old Mother West WindOliver TwistOne of OursOtto of the Silver HandOut of Time's Abyss

Ozma of OzParnassus on WheelsPellucidarPenrodPenrod and SamPersuasionPeter PanPhantasmagoria and Other PoemsPoems by Emily DickinsonPoems of William BlakePollyannaPollyanna Grows UpPride and PrejudicePrufrock and Other ObservationsPygmalionRebecca of Sunnybrook FarmRiders of the Purple SageRinkitink in OzRobinson CrusoeRobur the Conqueror; or, The Clipper of the CloudsRoughing ItScaramoucheSense and SensibilitySeventeenSheShe and AllanShirleySilas MarnerSnowdrop and Other TalesSouth Sea TalesSouth WindSouth!Spoon River AnthologySummerTales of Space and TimeTales of the Jazz AgeTarzan of the Apes

The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Adventures of Sherlock HolmesThe Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Ancient AllanThe Arabian NightsThe Autobiography of Benjamin FranklinThe Book of WonderThe Boy Scouts Book of StoriesThe Call of the WildThe Castle of OtrantoThe Chessmen of MarsThe Chronicles of ClovisThe Circular StaircaseThe Coral IslandThe Country of the Pointed FirsThe DeerslayerThe Emerald City of OzThe Every-Day Life of Abraham LincolnThe First Men in the MoonThe Four MillionThe Farther Adventures of Robinson CrusoeThe Gettysburg AddressThe Gift of the MagiThe Gods of MarsThe Golden RoadThe Haunted BookshopThe Hound of the BaskervillesThe House of Seven GablesThe Hunchback of Notre-DameThe Hunting of the SnarkThe Invisible ManThe Iron HeelThe Ivory ChildThe Jungle BookThe Land That Time ForgotThe Last of the MohicansThe Legend of Sleepy HollowThe Light PrincessThe Lion's SkinThe Lone Star Ranger

Weekly Live Content Schedule

Nine Transformational Methods1. Immerse them in an engaging story about mindset theory

2. Let them become friends with intriguing and engaging characters from the world of literature

3. Help them build vocabulary, syntax knowledge, and reading fluency

4. Engage them in a story that exercises their reading skills

5. Lead them to gateway books

6. Help them make time to read

7. Incentivize reading (gently)

8. Let them see that their classmates read

9. Let them experience the joy of writing

20+ APPS

500K LOC

3 GB

Problems…

…and Solutions!

Problem 1: It won’t all fit!

Apple has rules…

• Apps shouldn’t depend on other apps• Solution: Optional Dependency

• Apps shouldn’t communicate with other apps• Solution:

• iOS 7: Pasteboard• iOS 8: App Groups

• Apps shouldn’t mimic the home screen• Solution: Make it look different

Problem 2: Big Teams Make Big Problems

Inter-team communication is perilous

Multi-app deployment is a pain

Collisions wastetime

• Daily communication• Clear APIs• Build One Yourself

• Nightly Builds• Solid Deploy Tool

• Build Excellent Tools• Organize Around

Content, Not Function

Problem 3: On Mobile, Time is your Enemy

• 36 Months of Development… so far!

• A major update from Unity or Apple will happen about every 8 months

• iOS 8 is really different from iOS 7

• We started on Unity 3.5 – now on 4.6!

• Example: Occlusion culling was verydifferent from Umbra 2 to Umbra 3

• Plan to be disrupted

Is Mobile AAA possible?

Thanks!@jesseschell

jesse@schellgames.comSlides at jesseschell.com