Murphy's Toast Games

Factsheet

Developer:
Murphy's Toast Games
Based in Barcelona and Palma

Release date:
Episode 1 available on 7th November, 2022

Download:
Steam (Windows, OSX and Linux)
Windows (direct download)
Linux (direct download)

Website:
https://www.murphystoastgames.com/sheet.php?p=julia_a_science_journey

Regular Price:

Episode 1 is free!

Description

Julia: a Science Journey is an adventure about viruses, society, and life choices. The story begins in 2020 as our main character lives a humdrum teenage life while she deals with high school, her family and her friends. Will you help Julia navigate through the complexities of adult life while the covid-19 pandemic changes her world forever?

Download Episode 1

The first episode is available for free! Choose the version of the game compatible with your platform: Windows, Mac or Linux. You will get a compressed '.zip' file which you will need to extract to a local folder using 7-zip or the archiving tool of your choice. Once extracted you should get a new folder called 'julia_a_science_journey'. Go inside the folder and double click on the executable file 'Julia: a Science Journey' to start the game.

History

The covid-19 pandemic changed forever the relation between society and science. Suddenly global health, viruses and vaccines were the main topic of conversation in the streets, scientists became influencers known by everybody in social networks and TV channels alike, fighting against a bombardment of disinformation and fake news. However, do we really understand what a scientist looks like, and what type of work do they have? This is the type of challenge we at Murphy’s Toast Games love to tackle, so we decided to develop a video game not only about science, but about the people that make it happen. At the same time, we were curious about how video games are capable of captivating our attention and promoting learning of very complex game mechanics. So, we decided to transform this idea into a participatory project where players are part of scientific research itself just by playing our game. Our idea was successfully funded by the PANDEMIES programme of the Catalan Research Agency during 2021. Does it sound ambitious? Indeed it is! This project is a radical change from previous developments and for this reason we have structured the publication in different episodes, being the first one available for free. Have fun playing Julia and help us understand how video games work!

Features

• Experience the first episode of a story-rich tale of personal growth amidst the covid-19 pandemic
• Contribute to a citizen science project
• Play minigames inspired by everyday challenges: detect fake news, deal with teachers, bike faster
• Face adulthood by surviving high school while preserving your mental health
• Play the game in English, Spanish, or Catalan

Julia: a Science Journey Credits

Xavier Rubio-Campillo
Director

Jaume Mayans
Artist

Ferran Illa
Programmer

Celia Corral
Writer & science content

Kevin Marín
Writer & learning research

Luka Gómez
Sound & Music

Contact

Inquiries
contact@murphystoastgames.com

Twitter
http://twitter.com/MToastGames

Facebook
http://facebook.com/murphystoast