
What do you get when you cross the fun of a space shooter with an English Literature class focused on the great bard himself? You get 'Speare, a computer game by ApolloGames.ca aimed at teaching children about the works of William Shakespeare by using a futuristic space shooter.
It sounds crazy but it just might work. The game is your standard flash shmup in which you have to collect the text of Shakespeare's plays from enemy ships, periodically scanning items to reveal information about his works, which you will be quizzed on later. You can even pick from different ships with names like Juliet's Dagger, Baited Bear, Star Crossed, and the Guardian Globe.
Here's some text from the intro to give you an idea of how they're working this:
Peace reigned in the galaxy until a civil war broke out in the Verona System between planets Montagor and Capulon, who were entrusted with guarding Shakespeare's ancient text Romeo and Juliet. Distracted by their squabbles, the Verona System is left open to invasion by the ever-encroaching drones of the power hungry Insidian Army.
Crafty, eh?
There is a flash demo available to try out at the ApolloGames.ca website, with the full version available for purchase for $20. Give it a look see, and let every eye negotiate for itself.
'Speare Download and Demo Page [ApolloGames.ca via CTV]








Comments
I finished watching Throne of Blood minutes before coming here and finding this. Weird.
Today is Shakespeare's birthdaaaaay!
Cool theme.
For Hecuba!
Some kid is going to answer his quiz on Romeo and Juliet saying it was all about the Montagor and Capulon planets feuding in a galactic battle in the Verona system and his teacher is going to be all WTF?
@el_gordo:
I think he was born on the 23rd and died on the 23rd.
Uh, ok, cool. This still can't top oregan trail or number munchers. Those were AWESOME
I think this is cool as long as the tool actually get's through to the students. Some people play games especially shooters for mindless action.
I would have loved learning about Shakespear in English class with games.
I've been looking for a vertically-scrolling space shooter that will have the words "Bite my thumb at them" onscreen as long as possible.
Remember back in the days of the Apple II when educational games regularly kicked ass like this? It was a video game first and foremost, with a side of education included, kind of like Typing of the Dead.
Sweeeeet. I've always wanted to read "Richard III" while blasting space ships.
Pretty sweet. Can't wait to battle MacBeth!
Oh wait... MacBeth isn't a boss in this game? Damn.
Crafty or incredibly cheesy. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :-P
The Game's The Thing, eh? Nice reference =P
Anyway. Uh..Shakespeare. Great. D:
Do we get to go to the planet MacBeth? X3
Blast or not to blast,that is the dilemma...
It actually amazes me that someone hasnt even proposed a shakespeare game ever. I think that a Kingdom Hearts type adevnture through the different plays would be so awesome.
Gradius, Gradius, where for art thou, Gradius?
This honestly sounds pretty cool. I'll have to check it out - not to mention put up a copy for the Shakespeare class I'm in.
I could use a version based on "The Winter's Tale"--having trouble finding time to read this as the last play in an English-major only college s
that was supposed to end, "in an English-major only college level Shakespeare class" but mysteriously sent itself before I finished typing . . .
Eh, Winter's Tale version would be useful--but I'd actually like to see Radiant Silvergun retold with lines from Titus Andronicus.
@el_gordo: his birthday was 2days ago buddy
I'm not really impressed. The word collection mechanics are fairly interesting and reminiscent of Twinbee bell juggling, but the rest of the gameplay is fairly poor.
Ships have inertia, which is frustrating to deal with when trying to dodge shots. Speaking of shots, enemy shots are difficult to see and it's hard to tell when you actually get hit. To top things off, enemy ship patterns are completely uninteresting.
That's funny. I thought 'Speare was all of Shakespeare's works combined into a single musical revue.
Better than a standard Flash online game, it's also available for offline play (via the new Apollo dealie) as well as for purchase like a traditional Windows app.
I think they might be aiming a bit too high, what with the trivia bits and the quiz later and so on. They should have stuck with "collect the words to complete the quotes", at least that would have drilled some of the more famous bits into the kids heads (since you have to collect every word and you can't repeat them, you have to actually pay attention to what words you have). They could do storylines between the levels or something.
Duane
http://www.shakespearegeek.com
Comment on this post
Reply by EmailLogin with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?