FACES OF T E C H N O LO G Y
the leaders in the world of technology
2018
lindsey T R O P F
Co-Founder & CEO
Immersed Games | immersedgames.com
L
indsey Tropf, co-founder and CEO of Immersed Games, had
a light bulb moment while playing World of Warcraft. She
thought back to just how much she had learned simply by
playing the game, including problem-solving and leadership.
She envisioned the possibilities of what gaming could do when linked
with useful skills and a focus on science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM).
“People are looking for a way to engage this young generation of
learners,” Lindsey explained. “Developing that problem-solving ability
is something that a lot of people don’t realize gamers are incredibly
fluent at.”
Looking back, many of the largest game developers cautioned her
about the hardship of developing an educational game.
for potentially the next decade, essentially until they graduate
high school or potentially even later than that.”
Immersed Games is starting to pilot Tyto Online in schools.
The game has quests where students solve problems, like
finding evidence to convince a scientist if a species is invasive
and needs to be removed. There are also “sandboxes” for
more exploratory learning experiences, like building your own
ecosystem from scratch, learning about ecology as you figure
out how to balance it.
Based in Gainesville, Immersed Games credits the lower cost of
living, STEM-ready workforce availability, and Florida’s University
System, particularly the Florida Interactive Entertainment
Academy video game design school at the University of Central
Florida, for its early success.
“It’s absolutely essential to fully
understand your market and your
end user. For us, when it comes to
schools, having based our original
vision off that understanding has
made a big difference.”
The company’s long-term goal is to have one single online game –
Tyto Online – that will be available for others to continue to build upon.
“An 8-year-old joins, creates a character and they play that character
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