A science book for playful people.

Fact Sheet

Description

Discover how our planet works through play! Create volcanoes, sculpt mountains, and control the forces of nature with your fingertips.

Earth Primer defies existing genres, combining aspects of science books, toys, simulations, and games. It is a new kind of interactive experience which joins the guided quality of a book with open ended simulation play. A key motivation behind the creation of Earth Primer is to model a new genre for other designers to borrow from, helping our culture reimagine the possibilities inherent to simulations and interactive books.

Earth Primer has won numerous awards, including Best STEM App from the American School Association of Librarians and Best of App Store from Apple, as well as praise from a variety of prestigious publications such as WIRED, CNN, and Popular Science.

Features

• Discover how Earth works through play.
• The forces of nature are at your fingertips—
make volcanoes, shape sand dunes, form glaciers, sculpt mountains, push around tectonic plates, paint with wind, heat up magma—and more!
• 20 different tools to unlock.
• Richly interactive geological simulations.
• Five chapters: Earth's Interior, Surface, Water Cycle, Biomes, and Sandbox.
• Sandbox mode.

Request Review Copy

Contact press@earthprimer.com to request an advance/review copy of Earth Primer.

About the Author

Chaim Gingold is well known for his unique and playful simulation design sensibility. He was handpicked by Will Wright (SimCity, The Sims) to join the original prototyping team for Spore (2008), where he designed the critically acclaimed Creature Creator. The New York Times described Spore as a “scintillating, empowering toy,” and praised the “genius bestowed on Spore’s creative facilities.” (Sep. 5, 2008). He is an active member of the independent game design community, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Wired, CNN, and Fast Company. Chaim was awarded a Ph.D. for research on how to design for play, which explored the relationship between playgrounds, toys, and computers.

You can learn more about Chaim and his work at http://chaim.io

Background

While working on Spore, I saw great opportunity in the many interesting simulation prototypes we made but left on the cutting room floor because they didn’t neatly fit into the logic of a game. Earth Primer grew out of my fascination with geomorphology and a desire to invent a genre in which playful simulations could become part of a finished experience—even if it wasn’t a game.

I've set out to reimagine digital books as deeply interactive experiences brought to life via simulation and appealing visuals—much like contemporary computer games. In development for over three years, Earth Primer began life as a geomorphology simulation for another project, but through ongoing conversations with Bret Victor, transformed into an interactive book.

A central design premise of the project is that one must become immersed within and fascinated by a subject in order to to truly learn and engage with it. Earth Primer’s dynamic, playable, and interactive models of Earth share my enthusiasm for earth science in a tangible and fun form. SimCity, analogously, inspires a deep interest in cities and shares its creator’s fascination with urban planning. This is what good teachers and museums do: share and inspire a deep love for a topic.

Hopefully Earth Primer serves as a model for other designers to borrow from, helping our culture reimagine the possibilities inherent to simulations and interactive books.

Contributors

Chaim Gingold

Design, writing, programming, and production.

Cliff Caruthers

Sound design and music

Michelle M. Lee

Chapter and title illustrations

Laura Kaltman

Release video and title design

Pete Demoreuille

Additional programming

Video

Screenshots

Download All Screenshots .zip (33mb)

Icon, Title, Author Photo

Awards & Recognition

App Store Best of 2015

Best New App

Featured Educational App

Top 10 Educational App Debut

Top 100 App Debut

American Association of School Librarians, Best STEM App (2016)

Cyblis Awards, Book App Finalist (2015)

Tokyo Digital Children's Book Fair, Official Selection (2017)

Fast Co., Innovation By Design Award, Finalist (2015)

Experimental Gameplay Workshop, Game Developers Conference, Official Selection (2015)

IndieCade, Official Selection E3 (2015)

IndieCade, Finalist (2011)

“...an inspiring design experiment, and a reminder that interactive media is a young and undeveloped world itself.”

“...so effortlessly beautiful that as I messed around with it, I thought it was bound to show up in an official Apple ad one day or another. That's how perfectly it realizes the promise of a truly interactive textbook.”

“ ...the app is very beautiful, it's very engaging — it's really well designed.”

“Using the app gave me something of an epiphany; I want every book to be this awesome. ...absolutely worth every cent.”

“the future of education... sets a high benchmark for what educational apps should be aspiring to. ... Now we just need to wait for the rest of the education market to catch up.”

“A Sandbox for the Anthropocene ... This is much more than a toy. It is a catalyst for thinking about our world. ... In this era of the Anthropocene, where humanity is having an unprecedented effect on our planet, knowing how all the various planetary systems and processes hang together is more important than ever. And being able to do this with a sense of play is truly a joy.”

“Outstanding interactive models ...one of the most deluxe, and memorable educational apps available... an absolute must if you, or anyone you know wants to learn about the Earth.” 5/5

“It looks amazing... Can't wait to explore this, with and without the kids.”

“A tour de force”

“The most awesome app ever for introducing Geomorphology to a young audience; and it captivated this fifty-one year old 'youngster' too.”

“My 4 year-old cannot put this down. ... It’s definitely geared toward the younger set, but I’ll admit to succumbing to its charms and paging through page after interactive page. ...brings back memories of sitting forever in the terrain editor in SimCity 2000”

“fantastic... The years of work which the developer put into making this app are immediately apparent and appreciated.”

“a fresh level of interactivity... not to mention a healthy dose of sensory pleasure”

“Every animation, interaction and section is a joy to experience. ... magnificent”

“playful, child-like, beautifully designed reenvisioning of the book”

“It’s a lot of fun for kids and adults alike. ...a delightful experience.”

“Really helps students to understand how our planet works”
9.6/10

“a sneak peek at the future of digital learning”
5/5

International praise

“Erdkunde für Verkaterte”

“Earth Primer, una app educativa para iPad con el objetivo de enseñar a los más pequeños cómo funciona la Tierra”

“Kreativ iPad-app klargjør kloden: Simuler klimatiske og geologiske prosesser med touch-metoden.”

“Earth Primer: speel en leer met de aarde”

“Earth – A Primer – földrajz interaktívan”

• 天地創造の神のごとく地面を盛り上げマグマを発生させるゲームをプレイすると地球の構造などの科学的知識が身につく「Earth Primer」(Gigazine)
• Earth Primer：讲述地理学的互动图书 (ifanr.com)
• 【E3 2015】強力な自然環境エンジンで学ぶデジタル図鑑『Earth Prime』ーあの『Spore』の開発者が手掛ける (Game*Spark)
• bitno.mk
• polavkam.ru
• educaciontrespuntocero.com
• App gefahren
• Eğitim Uygulamalarında Etkileşimli Arayüz Yöntemi
• Designer do Criador de Criaturas lança um livro interativo (esporo.net)
• tech.walla.co.il
• teknofil.no
• Un'app per scoprire le scienze e i segreti della terra. 5/5 (mamamo.it)
• EARTH PRIMER: UN GIOCO PER SCOPRIRE COME FUNZIONA LA TERRA (green.it)

And more:

• Landscape Architecture Magazine (May 2015)
• Common Sense Media
• KQED Mind/Shift Four Inventive Games That Show Us the Future of Learning
• Communication Arts
• Popular Science, Best of April 2015 (Print and online)
• MacLife, 5/5
• PC Mag — Editor's Choice
• MIT _docubase
• Grist
• Hacker News
• RazorianFly
• MacFormat, 5/5. (May 2015)
• PC & Tech Authority
• iknowtoday
• Popular Mechanics
• Gear Patrol
• CNN News Stream
• TechMASH
• LS:N Global
• edshelf. 5/5