Country Ramble Games

Walk in the countryside, using Kinect with Windows, pop bubbles, exercise while playing bingo or poker walk. • This application requires the Kinect for Xbox One sensor and a Kinect Adapter for Windows. • Make sure your system is compatible with the Kinect for Xbox One sensor with the Kinect Configuration Verifier tool, available in the Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 2.0 at https://dev.windows.com/en-us/kinect. NOTE! Driver Update needed if Kinect doesn't turn on with the games. Make sure you have the following installed: Kinect for Windows Runtime 2.2.1905 and Microsoft.WindowsPreview.Kinect.8.1 2.2.1905.16001 (install both the Win32.appx and x64.appx). See full information and help here: http://www.mixxusstudio.com/game-production/kinect-games/kinectdriverhelp or here: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/82fa02b6-ef1e-4fb5-9821-87c4fea99fdb/update-to-address-win-81-apps-on-win-10-1809?forum=kinectv2sdk

ABOUT THE GAME In Country Ramble Games you can with the help of a Kinect sensor take a walk in the countryside. There are three different variations of the game, BubbleWalk, PokerWalk and BingoWalk. You move along the road by walking in place, like a leisurely march. At the same time, you can do some playing tasks with either your right or left hand. In BubbleWalk you pop some bubbles as you walk along the road. Count how many bubbles you can pop. In PokerWalk, you are presented with ten cards along the road, you can pick five of them, you cannot change or return a card so try to choose wisely to get a good poker hand at the end of the road. If you have something on your hand, you can save the result, so if you want, you can try to collect different types of hands. In BingoWalk you control a magic beam with your hand. Find the five Bingo objects along your way, and aim your beam at the objects to collect them. But be careful, the objects will start to drift upwards as soon as you point your beam at them. If you get Bingo, you can save your time result.

TYPE OF GAME The Country Ramble Games are intended both as recreation and as a way to get exercise in a simple way. Note that these are not extreme action games. Country Ramble Games can be played by people with impaired mobility as well as people who want a little more than an ordinary walk, just level the step height button. The step height button determines how high you need to lift your feet or knees to get around. You can change the step height level to your preference. At the lowest setting it's easy to get around, this may be a good setting for elderly or people with some kind of mobility impairment. There are no time limits, if you feel like it, you can stop and rest outside the mediaeval chapel and listen to some hymns, you can turn down the game music volume and just listen to the birds, or why not pump up the step height level and turn the music volume up and get a really good exercise. Of course, you don't actually need to "play" anything if you don't want to, just walk and relax.

WHO CAN PLAY This game can be played by anyone who wants to take a leisurely walk or stroll in the countryside, one can even "walk" sitting down which makes it useful for elderly or for people with some form of mobility impairment. For those who want a more intense and difficult march, increasing the Step Height level will for sure make the pulse go up. The games are simple in their design and will suit people also with less experience in computer gaming. The games are intentionally made to be cognitive non-demanding to suit people in need for relaxed activities. They may be a good choice for people with cognitive difficulties, such as in stress related fatigue syndrome where attention can be easily overwhelmed by stimuli, or for people with brain fatigue or minor dysfunctions caused by stroke. There are no "bells and whistles" in the games, at least very little, the scenes takes place in nature in a calm environment and the music consists of a mix of old folktunes (walking tunes), classical pieces with a somewhat modern arrangement. (Generally, "Country Ramble Games" were designed to be less stressful and less physically demanding than some common motion games.) The games has been developed with the support of psychological expertise. As results can be saved and viewed in plotted graphs or in high score tables, the games could also be useful in a clinical context, such as in stroke rehabilitation and physiotherapy, since you can easily view progress in training. And the games can hopefully be a fun way of training a weak leg or arm. In such cases, discuss game playing with your medical advisor. For people suffering from problems with balance or mobility impairment such as weakness in legs, one can play sitting down.

GENERAL SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS: • Free the space around you to not hurt yourself or to break any furniture. (Think about arms could be waving upwards too.) • If children are playing they should be supervised and instructed by parents to not hurt themselves bumping into furniture. • If other people are present in the room, make sure they are not in front of the camera and that they are at a safe distance from you bumping in to them. • If you experience problem with balance, consider sitting down when playing.

TECHNICAL STUFF: Before starting the game, Make sure you have the Kinect camera (sensor) properly installed on your computer. Follow instructions from Microsoft website to install Kinect and the necessary SDK software http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=44561 To use Kinect for Xbox One on your computer, you need an adapter. After installation of Kinect you should have the Kinect for Windows SDK v2.0 installed in your app menu. Find a good spot to play where the Kinect camera can view you from head to feet. You can easily check this with the software that follows with the installation of the Kinect SDK software. You can for instance run Kinect Studio v2.0 (under Kinect for Windows SDK v2.0) to view yourself in front of the Kinect. If everything looks ok, then you can start the Country Ramble Games. It can be recommended to connect your computer to a larger monitor or TV screen (using a HDMI cable) to improve the "feel" of the game and making it easier to see. To make sure the game runs well on your system, you can download the free demo version before buying the full game. Download free demo (Country Ramble DEMO) at Windows Store or get more info at http://www.mixxusstudio.com/game-production/kinect-games QUICK START Before you start, make sure Kinect is properly installed, see above under "Technical stuff" • Start the game by pressing the Country Ramble Games icon. • From the Main Menu (start screen), choose one of the three game variants and press one of the correspondent buttons underneath to play with either right or left hand. • Stand in front of the Kinect camera, let the camera know you're there by moving slightly. When camera has found you, the blue screen layer will disappear. • Walk in place, that is, march on the spot, lifting your feet and knees a little. • Move either your right or left hand (depending on which hand you've chosen) to pop bubbles, pick cards or point beam at bingo items. • When you're done, you will be taken to the Orientation Board. From the Orientation Board Menu, you can either restart or choose one of the two other games. You choose either by putting your hand in one of the boxes or use the mouse to click. • If you choose to go back to the Main Menu start screen, you can click on Result to view your result under any of the five player icons. (If you have saved any result.)

Playing the game variations: • BubbleWalk: As you walk, there will be bubbles appearing in front of you, sometimes shooting up way ahead of you, to reach them you will have keep a steady pace. Don't worry if you can't, as long as you walk and don't stand still, bubbles will keep appearing along the road. Try to pop the bubbles by reaching out at them with your hand. • PokerWalk: Ten cards will be placed along the road. try to get a poker hand by choosing wisely. When you're in reach to pick a card, a little sound can be heard. To pick a card, hold up your hand, a red lightbulb will show up around the card, keep holding your hand up for about 3 sec, and the card will show up in the panel at the bottom of the screen. Once you picked a card you cannot change it. If you don't want a card, just pass it. When you've picked five cards, you cannot pick any more card. The type of hands you can get (in order of value) is; one pair, two pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush. If you get some of those hands and your cards are high you can also get bonus points added to the total sum. Both the type of hand and the total sum will be recorded if you choose to save your results. • BingoWalk: Five objects will show up on the panel at the bottom of the screen. As you walk along the road, try to spot those items (sometimes they are easy to see, sometimes not so easy). When you find them, point your magic beam towards them and they will start to float upwards. To catch the objects, hold your beam so it turns red, try to follow the object with your hand so the beam keeps being red for about 3 sec. If you catch it, it will be checked in your panel. Tip; try to get close to the objects, at long distances or far to the sides, it can be hard to point and keep the beam steady enough. If you miss an object, you will get a second chance at the end.

MORE INFO: Download free Demo version at: http://www.mixxusstudio.com/game-production/kinect-games See Video Tutorial on how to play on: https://youtu.be/SeVz1uzxqZg Download PDF Tutorial for more in details on how to play at: http://www.mixxusstudio.com/game-production/kinect-games