By Christmas 2007 the game development company Rising Tide Software intends to launch a new kind of computer game under the title “The Tellaplay System”. The system is aimed for the 5 to 12 year olds and takes interactivity to a new level.

The game is developed and will be sold as independent software modules (e.g. virtual landscapes, avatars and other objects) that can be mixed and matched according to the player’s wishes. The users are therefore offered practically unlimited possibilities for expanding the game.

Furthermore, users can personalize the game by adding personal features such as pictures, drawings or other things. As an example, by adding a picture the family pet could star in the game, and by adding drawings the child could decide which setting the story of the game should take place in.

Finally, the users can upload the games they have created to the internet or burn them on a CD for other users. Thus, in dealing with this game the children can be said to become not only players but also creators and distributors of games.

“Whereas the primary value of a standard game lies in the possibility of playing and completing the game, “The Tellaplay System” contains possibilities of collecting, constructing, playing and sharing”, says Soeren Jensen, cofounder and managing director of Rising Tide Software.

The Tellaplay system makes up a good example of how new electronic media offers children new ways of challenging themselves. A massive development has taken place within the area of game-design and thus today we see a new generation of games.

These games which are targeted at the youngest gamers only, contain better possibilities of improving and displaying creative and intellectual skills – a development which the Media Council views as positive.

Anne Rahbek, The Media Council for Children and Youth