Release 3.1: New Storyline "The Desert Menu" + Sandbox Rework + Halloween 2022

It’s time to shake things up…with a brand-new biodome! (Or one that’s retconned to be brand-new, anyway…!) Councilwoman Nasim wants you and Supervisor Cherie to put your heads together and come with a design plan for the definitely-never-before-seen Mojave Desert biodome! There’s only one rule: it’s gotta be just right for a population of cougars. Learn about predator-prey relationships, niches, and why population size matters when you make your way up the food chain. What does it take to support an apex predator like a cougar? It might take more than you think!

This storyline covers relationships within ecosystems, and asks players to make predictions about the desert ecosystem based on data gathered from big cats in other ecosystems. 

This storyline also features significant mathematical thinking, to an extent that hasn’t been seen in any of our other storylines. “Using mathematics and computational thinking” is a Science and Engineering Practice outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards. 

We have also created some printable worksheets so that students can use a pen and paper to help them work out and keep track of the math they encounter in this storyline. (These worksheets are linked in our teacher guide.)

This storyline is accessible after ‘Panic! at the Microscope,’ the second storyline in our Cells to Organisms module. It is replacing ‘A Balanced Diet.’ All of the quests from ‘A Balanced Diet’ are now enrichment or practice quests.

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Our sandbox-unlocking assignments used to be a one-time on/off switch - once you "unlock" it for your students, there's no way to make changes to the assignment.

To improve the flexibility, we have spent some time making sandbox assignments behave the same way as other quests. Now you can make changes or delete a sandbox-unlock quest on the Calendar just as any other quests. The completion of the quest would unlock the sandbox, and reassigning or resetting the quest won't revoke the access.

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'Tis the season to be spooky! The game world has been decorated and Ulna the "Normal" Shopkeeper has returned with Halloween items. Students can find her around the transit center of the Tyto Commons.

Ulna the Normal Shopkeeper is at the transit center of the Tyto Commons.

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The styles of the in-game maps have been updated to be cleaner and more functional. Decorations are omitted to not draw attention from what's important, and popular locations such as "Whipper Snippers" (where you can redesign your character) have been labeled.

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In addition to the new storyline, we’ve also added a screen that will tell you when the game has crashed because of something you might be able to fix on your end. Hopefully, being more specific about why the game isn’t cooperating will help to get you and your students back to playing that much faster!