It’s Full Steam Ahead for Reach for the Sun

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Filament Games plans to deepen the roots of Reach for the Sun, the company’s first game to premier on the popular online gaming platform, Steam.

Madison, Wis. (PRWEB) October 15, 2013

What do you get when you mix the right amount of sunlight, soil and inspiration? For Filament Games: an award-winning science game that continues to make a name for itself.

Filament Games plans to deepen the roots of Reach for the Sun, the company’s first game to premier on the popular online gaming platform, Steam. Reach for the Sun, a 2013 Games For Change winner, is an immersive learning game that takes the user through the life cycle of a plant.

“The game allows students to make connections between photosynthesis and the growth of the plant,” said Tammie Schrader, a seventh grade life science teacher at Cheney Middle School in Washington. “For example, there is a sugar consumption component that I simply cannot teach in a laboratory setting, so this game allows students to master that concept. This type of modeling makes teaching specific standards not only possible, but also shows student learning and growth.”

Reach for the Sun is set to go live on Steam Oct. 30. Premiering on Steam marks yet another milestone for the Madison, Wisconsin-based game publisher that has developed more than 60 professional-grade learning and teaching games for clients ranging from the Smithsonian to MIT.

"Steam is the online game distribution source,” said Filament Executive Producer Dan White. “And Filament couldn't be more pleased to bring our learning and gaming expertise onto this phenomenal platform."

An inter-disciplinary team led by Designer Abby Friesen created Reach for the Sun to achieve specific learning objectives through a combination of rich design and sophisticated game mechanics, producing what Friesen calls “an art and music showcase.”

“Reach for the Sun lets the player live the life of a flower, tactically building your plant to thrive and breed across the seasons,” said Filament Chief Creative Officer Dan Norton said. “By the time you’re done, you’ll have a deeper appreciation of plant anatomy, function and life cycle.”

Reach for the Sun was created by Filament as one of four games produced under the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) Small Business Innovative Research-funded (SBIR) Game-based Interactive Life Science (GILS) project.

About Filament Games
Filament Games is a game production studio that exclusively creates teaching and learning games. The company's core competency is producing games that combine best practices in commercial game development with key concepts from the learning sciences, sparking inspiration through exploration and discovery. Accordingly, its staff is comprised of individuals who are equal parts game and instructional designers. This "dual literacy" allows Filament Games to work with teachers, parents and students to engineer authentic gameplay mechanics that directly correlate with specific learning objectives.

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