#blogtakeover SWISP Lab x WIL | PokéFutures: Using Multispecies Narratives to Promote Speculative Thinking  

A SWISP Lab WIL Project By: Isabella Lombardo

Being largely inspired by SWISP Lab’s Hak.io gameplay, their allusion to virtual game worlds as a place for speculation on their Unimelb site,  and the immortal pop cultural behemoth that is the Pokémon franchise—I decided to build my own themed narrative “mod” of SWISP’s gameplay mechanics aimed at senior primary school children as my WIL capstone project. 

CONTEXT  Why Pokémon of all things?  

Since its inception in 1996, this virtual roleplaying saga alongside superpowered critters has always been designed as a mirror of real-world environmentalist issues and to promote curiosity of the natural world—courtesy of the creator’s own interests in entomology and backyard exploration as a child. 

Combined with its pop cultural longevity nearly 30 years later, this fictional realm is a perfect site for students to explore their relationships with space/place, animals and plant life, and how human and environmental pressures shape these facets of the world.  

It’s a narrative where living organisms and natural entities control weather disasters, adapt to demands of their ecosystems, and are largely affected by human interference for better or worse.  

GAME NARRATIVE 

In the Region of Ozeania (a hybridized real-fictional future based on Australia) the players will embark on Adventures with their Starter Pokémon of choice, facilitated by Professor Acacia and 3 Gym Leaders who will pose problems and plot points for students to respond to. 

POKÉMON: EARTH  

POKÉMON: SKY  

POKÉMON: SEA 

GAMEPLAY 

Players are encouraged to keep a digital ‘Trainer’ Bag where they can log their writings, wonderings, artwork, recordings and other materials relevant to their journeys through real and fictional spaces.  

Players in the speculative game would be given a starter pack of physical cards, each to do with a theme response and a prompt. Cards can be swapped and traded amongst players, or used to “challenge” one another, or used to collaborate a creative, speculative response. The more they play, the more “experience points” they earn which strengthen their companionship with their chosen Pokémon to level up. 

Players could also use physical or digital badges to mark their accomplishments the more they complete tasks.  

DESIGNS 

It’s crucial that the Pokémon and characters in the narrative still resemble real life cultures, identities and wildlife to visually make bridging realities easier for younger students.  

*Gym Leader and Professor designs were drawn by me, whilst backgrounds and original Pokémon designs were altered and edited from visual AI prompts.  

Do you want to hear and see my 20mins presentation? Here you go!

Written by: Isabella Lombardo
Master of Teaching (Primary) ­­
September 2024