Digital Play

By kylemawer 　http://digitalplay.info/blog/2010/05/mystery-of-time-and-place-motas/

Level: Intermediate+

Location: Computer room

Skills Focus: Live listening

Language Focus: It’s something you use to + verb / for + gerund

Game: Mystery of Time and Space (MOTAS)

This game was probably one of the first point-and-click games I used with a class and many consider it a classic ‘escape the room game’.  It has got over a hundred rooms in which you have to find objects, work out puzzles and escape from the room.  What’s nice about this game is that if you hover your mouse over the objects in a room it is annotated (see below).  This is worth pointing out to your learners at a very early stage.

The pre-gaming activity below orientates learners to the annotation function within MOTAS.   You need to do this in a connected classroom before moving to a computer room.

Preparation

Print off a copy of the MOTAS walkthrough (rooms 1-8) or use an electronic copy of the MOTAS walkthrough (rooms 1-21) or the MOTAS video walkthrough (rooms 1- 5) to ‘dictate’ the game play to your learners.

Pre-Play

1. Present the game to the class and show them the first room.
2. Tell them they have 2 minutes to write down the name of as many objects as possible that they can see on the screen (whether they may use dictionaries is up to you).
3. When they have finished ask them to swap lists with another group.
4. Tell them that they get 2 points if the name of the object appears on the screen and 1 point if you accept it.
5. Move your cursor over each object on the screen.  Learners give 2 points if the object name appears.
6. Add up the marks and hand the list back to the original group.
7. Groups can now argue over the 1 point score words on their list e.g. ‘Locker’ is annotated but you can give 1 point if they say ‘cupboard’

Play

1. In a computer room tell learners they have to listen to you tell them how to escape.  The first one out the room and says stop gets 1 point.
2. They have to either find the annotation to find an object or ask you to describe the object to them e.g. Learner: “What’s a pillow?” Teacher: “You use it to put your head on when you go to sleep.”
3. Use a copy of the walkthrough or the video walkthrough to dictate to your learners how they should complete the game.

Post Play

As learners to write down some of the objects they remember from the game and to write a definition for the objects using the grammar:

It’s an object you use to + bare infinitive

It’s an object you use for + gerund

Alternative activity

Instead of doing a live listening activity or gaming dictation you could give learners a reading in which they have to sequence jumbled walkthrough sentences by playing the game in the computer room.

If you would like to try this why not download a copy of the MOTAS Sequencing Activity and make enough copies for each group in your computer room.

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