Here at Timocco we’re ushering in the new year with yet another new game we’ve been working on!
On the fun side:
‘Shoot for the stars’ is all about a multi-colored cannon that shoots fireworks. Players need to aim the cannon at the target that’s the same color before the fireworks launch to score. But don’t hit the wrong target, those rockets might bounce back… watch out for that!
On the skills-building side:
Shoot for the stars works across a range of motor and cognitive skills: posture and balance, body awareness, midline crossing, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, motor planning, control and accuracy, reaction speed and upper body strength. It also aims to develop attention skills and visual perception and discrimination, on the cognitive side.
(If you’d like more information about how Timocco works on these skills in general, check out our skills page.)
Bilateral coordination, midline crossing and DCD
The game can be adjusted to focus specifically on crossing of the midline by limiting play to use of one ball and selecting a wider range of motion setting in the game’s control panel. Alternately, by using two balls held together to aim the cannon, the player can work on bilateral coordination, an important skill that often requires improvement among, but not limited to, those diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder.
Motor Skills and CP
The need to quickly aim the cannon before the rocket launches works on a number of motor skills – accuracy, efficiency and reaction speed, among others. Exercising these skills can be of great benefit to those with Cerebral Palsy – of course, most players won’t realize that when they’re playing, they’ll be too focused aiming to hit the right target!
Cognitive Skills and ASD, ADHD
Did you know making split-second decisions can take years of practice? In ‘Shoot for the Stars,’ players have just a moment to process the color of the rocket, find the similarly-colored target and aim the cannon. Decoy targets of different colors encourage visual perception and discrimination, while the need to choose one target and ignore others works on developing attention skills, important for those with Autism and ADHD.
The game’s control panel offers settings options to suit a range of conditions and capabilities – game speed is variable, the number of targets can be adjusted, and the cannon’s aiming line can be turned on and off in order to increase or decrease the challenge as necessary. As in all Timocco games, range of motion and background screen color are also variable.
We hope you enjoy our new year’s game – as you can see we’ve packed a bunch of skills into it! As always, we’d be happy to hear your thoughts – drop us an email or comment below.
Here’s a short clip of the game if you’d like to watch a preview:
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