Transforming Hacivat-Karagöz shadow play to an interactive-educational computer game

It is a known fact that computer games are influential on cognitive performance and that they have a huge potential if used as learning tools. In this study, the aim is to design an educational computer game based on Hacivat-Karagöz play, i.e. a Turkish shadow theater play. Instead of a classic shadow theater play, the current design lets children direct the characters and tell their improvised story. The game is designed to be helpful for improving the social abilities of children and as a side benefit it can help for keeping this valuable tradition alive. In this study, the outline of this game is provided and the classic Hacivat-Karagöz characters are re-designed in 3D. The chosen interaction medium is Leap Motion. HCI of leap motion is tested and the results indicate that the designed UI is successful enough to let children simulate the basic shadow theater tools. The redesign of these 2D-shadow theater characters in 3D was one of the most challenging steps. In order to tackle the task at hand, artistic skills were found to be equally important as technical skills. Although the current design is sufficiently capable of what was initially required, the current game concept needs to be revised with people from different backgrounds in order to create a more elaborate educational tool and to take the developed concept a step further.