The Metaverse, which was wildly hyped before, has a tendency to shut down recently, and Amazon, which had not followed the hype before, launched a game with a metaverse color last week. At first glance, the game, called AWS Cloud Quest, may seem a bit clichéd and boring—becoming an avatar, completing various quests in a virtual city for rewards, and at first glance the game’s low-resolution graphics, eh? …a feeling of overturning came over me.
However, when the people of Silicon Star experienced it in person, they had to say that it was “really fragrant”. It is not so much a game as a set of large-scale open practice courses created by Amazon for AWS, allowing you to complete various game tasks in the virtual world while getting started with zero basics and practicing various aspects of Amazon cloud services. knowledge and skills. Amazon said that after playing this game, you can even go out and turn right to take the certification of an AWS cloud computing practitioner.
The whole game has no complicated storyline and no gorgeous graphics rendering. It can be said that a very hard-core learning game is made with the simplest and crudest style of painting. Some netizens commented that although the game as a whole exudes a strong “middle-aged flavor” that matches Amazon’s, it somehow makes you play a little over the top.
Entertaining and entertaining, do not take the ordinary cosmos road
Last week, this game was officially released on Amazon’s official website. It was developed by the Amazon AWS training and certification team. It is mainly aimed at adult players, hoping to help them learn AWS knowledge and accumulate practical experience through online games.
They created a virtual city, and you become a cloud technician in the city to help the city’s residents solve cloud-related IT problems. After completing the task, you will get points and rewards to unlock a new Character style, buy outfits, get pet companions and equipment, change city themes, etc. The English version is currently open to global users for free. Below is the official introduction video of the game.
To tell the truth, when I first saw the preview of this game, the people of Silicon Stars actually rejected it. After all, this rough style of painting, coupled with the boring technology of cloud services, makes it difficult for people to be interested. Meta next door, although the games in the metaverse are a little boring, but the novelty brought by VR is still there.
But in a responsible attitude, the people of Silicon Star still went to experience it.
After entering the game, the system will tell you that your role is an IT staff member in this city, and a lady named Ade with thick eyebrows in pink is assigned to be your guide throughout the process.
To be honest, this artist seems to be a work for beginners in animation design to practice, which is really unbearable to look at.
Then, you can create your virtual avatar. When it comes to pinching people, you have very few choices, and the color and style matching of the clothing provided also makes people doubt the aesthetics of Amazon’s designers… But these are not important, because the subsequent games do not look at the face, Others in the city are basically dressed in this style.
The avatar is ready, and a virtual city where “humans and animals live in harmony” unfolds before your eyes. In addition to sporadic pedestrians, giraffes, gorillas and drones are flying on the road. Under the guidance of the guide, you will trigger a small plot, and then the pedestrians on the roadside will send you a mission invitation.
Each task has a specific learning and operation theme, and after completing the task, you will give solution notes and receive corresponding rewards, including points, virtual items, and new ratings. For example, the first assignment the Silicon Stars received was about building a static web page using AWS’s S3.
Throughout the game, you need to solve more than 10 similar tasks in the city, some are to help solve the cloud service problems encountered by citizens, and some are to help the construction of the city through cloud technology. The difficulty of the task will also increase as your level rises. Through step-by-step learning and practice, you will gradually become a cloud technology expert from a “noob”.
The process of completing each task must include four steps: Learn, Plan, Practice, and DIY. The learning section is relatively old-fashioned, mainly by watching embedded teaching videos; in the planning and practice level, Amazon gives clear operation steps and task lists to guide you to complete step by step; in the practical part, the game allows you to DIY in an AWS environment rather than in a pre-built development environment.
Amazon believes that in this interaction and practice, it can help learners to transform abstract cloud computing concepts into reality, so that many people who have started with zero basics can understand the application scenarios of AWS more intuitively and clearly.
Four steps for AWS Cloud Quest to solve tasks
For zero-based users, in the process of completing these learning and practical tasks, it may be slightly difficult to receive and digest cloud-related knowledge. However, compared with the past teaching videos or courseware, AWS Cloud Quest, which focuses on the essentials and processes of knowledge, has greatly lowered the entry threshold, and some puzzle-style settings and vivid application cases in virtual cities also make the learning process easier. interesting.
The entire game contains 12 learning tasks. By solving these tasks and applying them in the virtual city, you will be able to fully learn the basic concepts, use cases, pricing models, security knowledge, and business implications of Amazon Cloud.
Although compared to most online games, this AWS Cloud Quest is far from sophisticated in terms of screen production. As an “open” game, its current scale and degree of openness are obviously not a game. A true metaverse game. But Cloud Quest is very smooth in process design, and the connection between learning and games is not rigid. It can be said that Amazon has achieved a good innovation in how to gamify and popularize complex technical knowledge.
Learning content involved in AWS Cloud Quest
When you gradually get used to this quaint style of painting, you will even have an unexpected refreshing feeling. It is not bad to walk around in this AWS city on a skateboard. Maybe it is because you can learn knowledge while playing games. happy.
Therefore, if you are a friend who is interested in cloud technology, you must not miss this game, you can log in to the AWS Skillbuilder official website to experience it yourself.
AWS’ education program has been upgraded again, free and open to a larger group
In addition to launching this AWS teaching game, this time, Amazon also launched an upgraded version of the AWS Educate program.
In 2015, Amazon first launched the AWS Educate project, mainly for college students and educators, and cooperated with many universities to provide them with free courses, tools, and practical resources related to cloud technology. It has previously covered more than 1 million learners worldwide, providing learning resources in various versions including English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
This time, Amazon announced the cancellation of the email address required for the edu suffix of AWS Educate, expanding the target group to a wider population, and the minimum learning age has also dropped significantly. Today, users 13 years and older can sign up for AWS Educate using a software address, participate in hundreds of hours of free, self-paced training, or use free resources and labs designed for beginners to access up to 50 courses and 10 hands-on labs.
AWS Educate platform, image via Amazon
After completing the knowledge learning, learners participating in the program can earn an AWS Educate badge and can take the qualifying exam as an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. AWS Educate also has a dedicated job section for learners over 18 to dynamically update job postings for cloud computing jobs.
According to AWS survey data, after the epidemic, 85% of global technology practitioners said that they need to learn more technical knowledge to cope with changes in work content. As the world becomes more and more digital, people need to learn technology. Amazon said AWS aims to provide free cloud computing skills training to 29 million people in more than 200 countries by 2025. Both AWS Cloud Quest and AWS Educate are part of the hundreds of millions of dollars Amazon is investing in making that happen.
I have to say that in order to teach everyone to use AWS, Amazon’s approach is getting wilder.