The Great Debate
A Serious Hybrid Game Design, Prototype, and Beta Test
💡 Game Design | Hybrid Learning | Interaction Design | Rapid Prototyping | System Mapping | User Testing | Narrative Design
🛠️ Figma | Adobe Character Animator | Illustrator | Photoshop | After Effects | Audition | Unity | QR Codes
🤖 Eleven Labs | Udio AI | Midjourney | Firefly | Artlist
👥 Designers | Developers | Artists | Game Testers
The Great Debate is a hybrid physical–digital game that merges collectible AR philosopher cards (“Osophy cARds”) with an interactive multiplayer app. The experience brings philosophy to life through storytelling, animated sequences, AR interactions, and competitive debate battles guided by real quotes and algorithmic scoring.
The Pitch
The Great Debate is part of the larger Osophy learning system—a hybrid blended ecosystem of curriculum, media, and interactive tools designed to help young learners explore philosophy.
I pitched one of the Osophy hybrid game concepts to Carnegie Mellon’s Game Creation Society, and I was chosen to lead a cross-functional team of developers, artists, and designers to prototype the game.
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Process
The entire game was redesigned into an MVP so the team could focus on validating core gaming mechanics rather than building the full, original vision. The MVP let us observe friction points, refine timing, and understand how hybrid interactions impact pacing and player engagement.
Prototyping
Prototyping focused on building functional gaming mechanics—card scanning, joining a lobby, turn-taking, and debate interactions.
Art Direction
This was a rapid prototype, and I leveraged AI-generated voiceover and music, edited in Adobe Audition. We rigged characters and animated them in Adobe Character Animator—my first time using the platform, which taught me a lot about project setup. The first round of art direction landed well, though there is a lot of refinement needed in future iterations.
Beta Testing
We ran play-testing sessions with small groups, observing real gameplay while documenting reactions, timing, and moments of friction. We logged player behavior, asked targeted questions after each round, and collected feedback to understand how the hybrid flow felt in motion.
The Outcome
Testing revealed that frequent QR scanning disrupts game flow, slowing down debates and interrupting the natural rhythm of analog play. A better structure would be to batch scan moments so that everyone acts at the same time, followed by a single, intentional digital checkpoint.
