Spilling the Beans...and the Asparagus, Heirloom Tomatoes, and Wild Mushrooms

In my first-ever post to this blog, I was nervous about keeping up with the readings from Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I realized very quickly after I began reading that the book is great--it's very interesting, Kingsolver is highly knowledgeable about her topic, and the prose style keeps me entertained while informing me at the same time, which is a rare feat in and of itself! I've already read the required first hundred pages, and the next hundred are underway. I can't wait to learn more about Kingsolver's adventures in local, organic, and ecologically-friendly food.

All of this reading is giving me some food for thought about themes for my Flash game, which is the overall reason the class is reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in the first place. Some ideas:

• Although this sounds ambitious, I would like to try creating a resource and time-management game based around Kingsolver's invented "vegetannual", a plant that bears every type of fruit or vegetable according to the growing season. I would start by choosing 4 to 6 consecutive months out of the year in which the player begins his or her farm adventure. The player would have to plant seeds and care for them, harvesting crops only when the plants are ready and not a moment before or after. Kingsolver stresses this, especially with certain crops, as well as noting that fresher veggies taste best. Rewards for a good month of growing could be: an increased harvest (which would add to the player's money supply after the farmer's market), special heirloom seeds being "unlocked", and more helpers and equipment on the farm (which would be able to be hired or purchased with in-game money). Penalties for a poorly-managed month could be: insects eating crops or plants rotting (failure to harvest when the time is right), effects from the weather (did the player plant something when it was still too cold and the seeds died? was the weather too hot, dry, or rainy?) and both of the previous would result in a loss of harvest, and therefore resources and money.
• The second idea I had which is simpler is that of a quiz game. In keeping with the "vegetannual" theme, I would devote each level to one plant or season, following Kingsolver's example in the book where, in early Spring, she devotes an entire chapter to the care and keeping of asparagus. In the asparagus level, I would create questions about asparagus; why it's healthy, what it looks like, where it grows, how to grow it, etc. Each correct answer would result in an asparagus plant being placed in the player's empty patch of land, until it is filled in at the end of the level. The next level would start over with the bare patch and a different plant, and the process would repeat.

That's all I really have for now, but I can't wait to see what the next hundred pages of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle have in store to inspire me with!