Inclusion Through Game Development
UK school absenteeism is up 117% since our lockdowns, this is 22% of all pupils (1.6M kids). Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice shows that kids with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) are overrepresented in these statistics and are five times more likely to be absent from school.
Contained in the findings are countless young autistic minds, struggling with Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). EBSA results in lost friendships, isolation, years of educational based trauma and for over 20% of the kids that we assist, significant mental health issues. Sadly, many of these children have be refused support by CAMHS when they needed it most.
We believe mainstream educational settings don't meet many autistic children's needs, made worse as leadership are driven by governmental budgets and policies that put stress on the teachers, which trickles down to our children.
Are the overcrowded, grade driven institutions causing the high levels of absenteeism we see and is this linked to the outcome that only 20% of autistic adults go on to employment in UK?
Welcome to the revolution of Game Changers
We are a UK regulated, dedicated, not for profit organisation that champions neurodiverse kids that just can't do school the way it's set-up today.
Every week we make a difference in over 80 families worldwide with dedicated, friendly and professional 1:1 mentors that inspire, teach and support autistic kids by tapping into their passion for gaming, art and technology.
As you may have realised, we're tossing out traditional curriculum subjects taught in the naughties. This is because we live in a world where employers say, "show we what you built", not, "tell me about your GCSEs". We think it is way better to coach kids, without grades, using today's industry standard engines. This means our kids lean on applications used for Indie to AAA game titles for platforms like Steam and Xbox, all the way to the 3D sculpting and animation engines behind characters in your favourite Pixar animations that push the boundries of movie making. We run programs for graphic design, illustration, video enditing/creation and music production. We also have loads of coding pathways.
Industry wise our work spans way beyond game and movie creation, including areas such as 3D architecture and Smart City simulation, to building medical training environments in virtual reality and augmented reality.
Moreover, this isn't just a tech training program. At our heart, Game Changers is about professional 1:1 mentoring. Our young adult mentors offer solid, empathetic emotional support and companionship throughout this journey. We use a highly tailored, visual, low-demand, low-arousal approach that makes learning look nothing like school! Our sessions are something to smile about, look forward to and, of course, inclusive; we even support kids that prefer to type what they want to say.
We equip bright young minds for work in a digitised world where anti-social hyper-focus can be actually be solid ally!
The genesis of Game Changers is personal
Russell, our founder, saw his autistic son disengage with traditional learning, experiencing burnout, isolation and mental health challenges.
Turning to game design and 3D sculpting as a way to engage with his son, Russell witnessed a huge change in his interest to learn. Russell realised this could be the way for countless others.
He decided to make a broader impact, and personally funding the project, Game Changers has emerged.
1 year later, whilst we already make a difference in over 80 families, by the close of Q1 2023, our goal is to support 250 families, including subsidised tuition and essential hardware to over 50 disadvantaged households that are supporting an autistic young person.
3D Character and Object Design, Sculpting, Painting and Animation
3D Character Design
We have access to a number of 3D and Cinema 4D Sculpture Engines. These allow young artists to create characters, objects, environments in three dimensions like they are working with clay and paint them before moving into the animation pipeline. We train on the same solutions used by editors, filmmakers, motion designers, visual effects artists and creators of all types
3D Painting
Because our software works with tens of millions of polygons in real-time, mentees can experience painting directly on the surface of the 3D model without first assigning a texture map or UV’s. This offers significant advantages compared to a standard workflow. The resolution of the texture map does not need to be decided in advance. They have the freedom to visualize, explore and create textures in 3D, and in real time. It is a deeply calming and satisfying activity to work in such intricate artistic detail.
Weapon Design
Lets face it, many game franchises and action movies need solid firepower. We can work with with our mentees to work on intricate sculpting and hard surface rendering of 3D obejcts such as weapons, or vehicles which can then be brought into games or movie scenes.
Polygon Modelling
Polygonal modelling is a 3D modelling approach that utilises edges, vertices and faces to form models. Our modellers work with mentees to start with simple shapes and add details to build on them to create three-dimensional models, like the baseball hat show above. Polygons are useful for constructing many types of 3D models and are widely used in the development of 3D content for animated effects in film and interactive video games.
3D Environmental Design and Rendering
We can help young people create environments from scratch. We also have created Terrain Prefabricated items that young people can use as the foundations of their game environment. These types of enviroments are currently used for leading video games and a large number of movies and shows to improve visuals and reduce production costs.
3D Character Game Physics
Physics aka 'ragdoll physics' can be fun and is certainly educational. It is great when we play on this in sessions "wait, what if we increase gravity" or "if we put the jump velocity to 10.5 do you think we can clear that box you just made". This extends to collisions be that of characters or vehicles.
Basic 3D Objects
We help mentees create a new 3D project. Create 3D objects in the Editor, move them, scale, and rotate objects in 3D space. We help kids learn to control the properties and behaviors of 3D objects using components and apply a simple materials to a 3D object. Once this is done they can edit things like adjust the directional light in a 3D scene and manage objects with prefabs, prefab variants, and nested prefabs
We also show how to find and import 3D assets from the asset stores. Or even publish their own 3D creations for sale in the stores for other artists or creators.
Roblox Engine Avatars
Many younger adolescents spend a lot of time on Roblox. Many will build their own avatar from exiting items that are available. Our team can connect and support your child by helping them design their own items and even make them available in the Roblox store. Whilst we work with Roblox as a development studio this only provides training for building in Roblox which can be limiting. We therefore work with other open game development platforms which provides greater opportunity for growth.
Game Changers has been life-changing for my family. My teenager was struggling to engage in activities that could help them develop skills and passions, but Game Changers gave them an opportunity to explore their interests in technology and game development. The supportive environment and tailored instruction have been invaluable to their educational and personal growth.
Game Changers has been life changing for my 16 year old daughter. She’s been out of school for 3 years and was struggling to engage. They helped her explore her interest in technology again. Their work is brilliant. Thank you, so much ❤️
- Maria Okoye
Educational Themes Include 2D Game Design, Character Creation and Animation
2D Game Creation
Through the use of digital assets created by you or through using existing assets, we walk through the fundamentals of creating and publishing your very first 2D game.
2D Character Animation
Animations are animation clips that are created for 2D assets. There are various ways to create Sprite Animations. One way is to create them from a Sprite Sheet, a collection of Sprites arranged in a grid. The Sprites are then compiled into an Animation Clip that will play each Sprite in order to create the animation, much like a flipbook. Simple, fun and usable in a game.
2D Character Creation
Through the use of pixel art, you are able to create basic characters and objects for 2D game play. Starting with pixel art characters for 2D games is a good way to bulid confidence with game development, before moving into the more complex world of 3D. Sometimes game development story boarding can be a great way to talk about what is going on in the young persons life can can be played out in the game scenes.
Coding and Visual Scripting
Junior Coding Challenges
Absolute Beginner Code optimisation
Beginner Programming Theory
Absolute Beginner Code Comprehension
Absolute Beginner Application Scripting
Absolute Beginner Debugging
Beginner Application Scripting
Visual Scripting
Visual Scripting allows you to create the logic for your projects without writing actual code. Whereas traditional scripting is done in the C# programming language, Visual Scripting is a visual “language” that lets you diagram your instructions. For example, these two scripts in the image do the same thing — they are just written in two different languages.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Experience Development
VR Change-Makers
A VR headset is not required to complete this learning. If you don’t have access to a headset, you can use the XR Device Simulator to test your projects which we will help you set-up. This allows you to use a mouse and keyboard to simulate the movement and inputs of a head-mounted display and controllers.
Augmented Reality
In our work with young people we help them actually build an AR project to either their iOS or Android device and test it out! This will ensure their AR Dev environment is set up and working perfectly before they begin designing their own AR apps. There are so many uses for the world of AR which we will cover during our work
Why VR and AR Anyway?
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are already making impact in many sectors such as architecture design, construction, retail and e-commerce. However, use of VR & AR whilst a game changer has impacted less than 1% of the sectors mentioned. This is set to change, we want our game changers to be part of that shift.
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Game Development
Game Changers: Artificial Intelligence for Beginners
We will reveal the most popular AI techniques used for creating believable game characters. We will run hands-on workshops designed to teach you about the fundamental AI techniques used in today's games. You'll join in as non player characters are programmed to chase, hide, flee, patrol, shoot, race, crowd, plan and much more.
Game Changers: 8 Weeks of AI
We cover a wide range of subjects for use of AI in game development this includes
Introducing the basics
The Mathematics of AI
The Physics of AI
The A* Algorithm
Waypoints and Graphs
Nav Meshes
Finite State Machienes
Autonomously Moving Agents
Crowd Simulation
Goal Driven Behaviour
Behavior Trees
Game Changers is incredible. We couldn’t get our son to show interest in anything academic at home due to EBSA. He’s now working on his second game! 3D Ragdoll physics is the current special interest.
- J.E., Greater London, England.
Graphic Design and Video Editing
Logo Design
Engaging hands-on workshops teaching graphic design basics and digital art. We also help young people infuse AI with their oringal logo designs.
Instagram Square Posts
Help young poeple learn the skills to develop instagram advertising assets and how to publish these on multiple platforms
TikTok Videos
Is your young person a TikTok fan. Do they spend too much time consuming when they would prefer to be creating? Get in contact!
YouTube Video/Channel Creation
We can help your young person set-up their own page, discuss content themes, obtain and record assets for their video and go to production from the comfort of their home. Your young person can be in the video, or perhaps they only want to record their voice. Or even use text to spech engine as the voice over (a little less stressful ;)
Digital Typography
This can be so much fun and bring a whole new context to creation of imagry or videos. Even just writing and designed your name as pink fluffy characters that look like real stuffies can be a nice end to the day!
Stock and AI Imagery
All content starts with good assets. Our autistic young people have vivid, visual minds and sometimes being able to write what you want to see into an AI engine can produce the images needed for the project. We also have access to tons of video and photography stock
Other Work with Young People
Parent Engagement Coaching
Choose to play the game! Frequently parents or caregivers find it hard to align with their your persons special interests. In addition there is a unconscious struggle with screen time (whilst we are all spending many hours on our devices!). We can help you reconnect and engage in the things that interest your child and help you use this as a platform for connection. Who knows where that could lead. You might make your first character or game together, well at least play a game together!
Career/Freelancing Guidance
If an adolescent is at home with ESBA this can actually be an opportunity for them to get ahead with their skills. Whilst other teens are busy with traditional training on the UK curriculum, your Child can be learning technical and design skills and even land a job before their peers are through 6th form! There are so many kinds of jobs for real-time creators in game development, film, animation, architecture, modeling, automotive, construction, medical, design and education industries. There might be fields that your young person would enjoy even more than game development! (They can still play them though). Our work will help you and your family explore all of your career possibilities. We even have links into a number of organisations which might be interested in certain skills and approaches.
Role Models and You Tubers
There are 5 million You Tube channels. We gently help our young people know who are some of the best, inspiring game creators out there and do our best to get them connected with the right learning so they can continue their journey with good role models