Irregular Industries: A Verb Adventure

**Update**

Version 1.14  includes a step-by-step tutorial. Select "Start Game" in the main menu to begin the tutorial.

About Irregular Industries

Navigate the depths of the Irregular Industries complex and its hostile inhabitants by mastering English irregular verbs.  You choose which verbs to practice and work your way through four levels that test your knowledge of present, past, and past participle forms. Along the way you will pick up useful tools and upgrades to help you on your journey.

Controls

• Move: A (left), D (right)
• Jump: Space
• Use/Interact: S
• Menu: Esc
• Attack: W
• Dash: J
• Shield/Whip: K
• Close menu shortcut: E

Hints for Gameplay

• The screwdriver and whip have special interactions with the word switches.
• The shield will protect you from enemies. But what about the laser bolts? Hmm...
• Struggling with level 3? Be sure to check the sentence starters on the floor. They are randomized!
• Bored of the soundtrack? Check the music button in the main menu to select new tracks.

Message from the Developer

Thanks for checking out Irregular Industries! I'm still very new at making games, so I welcome any comments, suggestions, feedback, or bug reports you may have. If you're a learner, I'd love to hear whether this game helps you with irregular verbs  (or if it's any fun!). If you're a teacher, I would gladly take feedback about any areas the game could be improved for more effective learning.

Boring Stuff About Linguistics and Pedagogy

This game is designed to facilitate scaffolded learning to the best of its ability.  Players are introduced to their chosen verb sets in the first level with a low-stakes, hazard-free environment. The pace and distractors increase incrementally with each level, aimed at encouraging memory-formation and automatization (at least for recognition). Grammatical "context cues" are also a core element of the gameplay with the hope of building accurate contextual and associative knowledge.

The verbs sets have been arranged with spelling patterns and frequency bands in mind. In this way, the "Tier 1" sets are verbs that appear most frequently in English texts, and "Tier 3" sets appear least frequently. Ideally players will work through the sets sequentially, but the game is designed to allow players to pick and choose areas of study.