Driving and parking cars games

Definition:

Driving and Parking cars is an ICT game in which the player manipulates the car, facing different hurdles, and should park the vehicle in a parking space with a mínimum of mistakes possible.

Objectives

The objective of the game is to park the car in the designated area, without hitting the other cars or other obstacles. The player accumulates points for the level he/she is playing, and if succeeds, can then reach the next level of difficulty.

This game can be very good to improve the following cognitive dimensions:

• Orientation
• Praxis

Duration

The duration depends on the difficulty/levels, one level playing is usually about 10-15 minutes.

Cost:

• Free

References:

• http://www.mydrivinggames.com/onlinegames/parking/

Participants

Participants’ profile:

• Dementia level: the game can be played at different levels of difficulty, and is suitable to match mild to moderate dementia levels.
• Physical requirements:
• Good sight (not having visual impairments)
  • Good functionality at arms and hands (must handle the mouse / the computer keyboard)
• Must have ICT skills or to have used PC before.

Number of participants:

• This game can be played as solitaire.

Material and requirements

• Materials needed to develop the game: PC/laptop, Internet connection.
• Environment considerations: Good lighting levels for computer visibility. Avoid glare. Avoid noise that can interfere with activity. The sound of games can be disturbing, so can be turned off.

Support needed

Professionals / relatives can:

• Explain the game instructions
• Show how to use PC, mouse, keyboard for driving the car and for parking it
• Supervise the correct development of the game.
• Explain the counting / score obtained

Starting point:

Accessing the game website, choosing the level of playing, and then starting to drive (move) the car, using the mouse/keyboard of computer.

Development:

The player must move the car, on the roads on the screen, until the parking lot, without hitting cars, walls, other obstacles in the way. The player must avoid collisions and park the car in the parking lot.

Usually, to move the vehicle, the player must use the directional arrow keys found on the computer keyboard. The player uses the Up arrow key to move the vehicle forward or to stop it from moving in reverse. The player uses the Down arrow key to reverse the car or to stop it from moving forward. To turn left or right the wheels of the car in order to change the direction of the vehicle, the player will use the Left and Right arrow keys.

The score is given by the software, taking into account the number of collisions, the time used for parking the car, and the completion of the task.

If the task is not completed at all, the player cannot step to the next level, which is more difficult.

There are several levels of difficulty for each game. The more exercise the player will carry out, this can improve its performance/results in the game.

Variants of the game:

• Physical game: it can be played by using toy cars and a board with painted parking lots and roads. The player can move the car with the hand, on the board, along the painted road, until reaches the parking lot and parks the car. A points system can be used to count the points for each correct parking. In this way, the performance can be improved.

Alternative games:

Other related games:

• http://www.truckgamesparking.com/Driving-Games/
• http://ro.y8.com/tags/Parking
• http://www.gamesfreak.net/Parking-Games_5.html

Assessment:

• Time needed to perform the game
• Number of collisions
• Correct parking
• Level reached
• Help needed