Featured Image courtesy of Life is Tech!

Company Life is Tech! brought a demo of its educational game “Disney: Technologia School of Magic” to Anime Expo 2019 and gave attendees more information at their panel. Global Division director Satoshi Miyagawa joined CTO Yoshihisa Hashimoto, formerly of Square Enix to talk about their unique project. 

The two explained that “Technologia” was a role-playing game where users learn to code and unlock scenes from actual Disney films like “Tangled”. Hashimoto then said that people will become “modern sorcerers” with the program as they go through the basic levels of HTML, CSS and Javascript in order to make their own games and webpages inside. He said that around 100 to 200 hours of playtime would get users to a mastery level.

Image courtesy of Life is Tech!

Photo taken by Faith Orcino

Hashimoto then revealed that “Technologia” had an analog (physical) component in the form of the book of sorcery. The large hardcover book contained puzzles and collectible postcards along with a serial number for the owner to register under. “Feel free to make the book dirty.” he said as permission to be really interactive with the book. 

The panel moved on to talk about the game’s story. Hashimoto addressed that they did have a struggle to make it enjoyable to anyone at any age though their target audience were middle school and high school students, even with Disney content. He then explained that “Technologia” focused on Akito who found himself in the magical school. Their slideshow showed some of the voice actors including Tomokazu Sugita (Kyon of “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”), Junya Enoki (T.K. of “Digimon Adventures tri”) and Aoi Yuki (Tsuyu of “My Hero Academia”). He said that both their script writer Ryosuke Nakamura and illustrator Meiko Hosoi worked together before. The slideshow then showed architecture by Antoni Gaudi and Hashimoto said that his designs were key for the world setting. Photos were shown of the development team’s trip to Spain to see the physical buildings.

Image courtesy of Life is Tech!

The discussion shifted to actual gameplay. Hashimoto introduced the audience to the learning interface called Mozer and includes the support character Mimil as a source of helpful tips and encouragement for users. He said that he wanted it to be accessible and fun. He compared their lesson materials on level building as the same approach of Nintendo’s “Mario Maker”. As his final message of the panel before questions, Hashimoto encouraged people to try out the game and “become sorcerers of the modern world.”

One audience question was the choice to teach text instead of blocks and the pair said that text is better for basic steps. Similar questions rose about the level of Javascript the game had and they said it is Javascript P5 and it used the basic function. Hashimoto further explained that “Technologia” might not be suited for professionals, rather for those who want to learn the fundamental skills that can be transferred. Regarding the decision to have both original characters and Disney ones, they created the school’s cast as a foundation to the Disney world so it could shine.

For more information, check out the “Disney: Technologia School of Magic” website.