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Jamaica is known for its vibrant music culture having given birth to reggae, dancehall, and other sub-genres. But let’s focus on dancehall for a minute. At first ‘dancehall’ was known as a physical space or ‘hall’ in this case, where people danced, played music, and had lyrical sound clashes.

But over time, dancehall became deeper than music- it is the fashion, dancers, a livelihood, a language, and an art form if you look close enough. But today it is a game!

In Jamaica, a lot of our culture is uniquely passed down by oral tradition through stories, and folklore. In a meaningful way it provides an interesting channel to pass down information; however, the disadvantage with this, is that eventually information will become lost (death of our elders) while some aspects may be changed to fit the narrative of the ‘storyteller’; oral tradition is subjective.

This is why a local spirit brand in Jamaica, Magnum Tonic Wine found a creative way to cement dancehall history by creating the game ‘Weh Yuh Know Bout Dancehall,’ (WYKBD) which is the first of its kind in Jamaica.

Game Development

Magnum Tonic Wine is regionally recognized in the Caribbean as the drink of dancehall and constantly uplifts dancehall culture. Weh Yuh Know Bout Dancehall is an added symbol of commitment to the brand’s aim. Having an idea is one thing but bringing it to fruition is another challenge.

This is where Magnum engaged Juss Buss Group of Companies to execute the game. Involved in this project was Creative Director JussBuss Group of Companies, Andrew Jackson, local producer Johnathan Newman, and film director Pierce McLean, who conceptualized an online gaming platform that would provide some form of entertainment during the Covid-19 pandemic through the lockdown period. The game is available on the brand’s website https://magnumhub.tv/game/.

Game Features

The WYKBD online game does not use any template or prebuilt quiz system but instead was built from scratch using the following programming languages: HTML and CSS for design, Javascript for the logic, and PHP and MySql for Data storage.

Javascript is the star of the show here as it handles the logic for tracking the player’s score, tracking the questions allotted time, timing out players, selecting questions at the correct difficulty level, depending on the player’s score, triggering events when videos have finished being played and updating the scoreboard.

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Display: The game display is that of a flat-screen television, which rests on a vibrant dancehall-themed background with large sound systems that set the atmosphere for the game. The host appears on an all-white background wearing red and black; a perfect contrast of colors that is easy on the eyes.

Questions appear on a black background and the font used is clear and easy to read. There is also a scoreboard, displayed horizontally above the questions and there are 12 questions with a check box for each.

For every correct answer, the box turns green and if the answer is incorrect the box turns red. This feature helps the player to easily track their point standing throughout the game.

Additionally, there is a timer that appears above the questions on screen, which gives a 15-second countdown before the player runs out of time to answer correctly. This feature adds a little eagerness to the game as you can visibly see your time running out and how long you have left to answer the question.

Sound: Using sound in a game is very important. Sound is what creates the atmosphere that the game wants to show you, this, in turn, builds anticipation and excitement for what is to come. For every correct answer, there is a light pinging sound accompanied by a green checkmark.

While, for every incorrect answer there is a loud, jarring horn sound accompanied by a red X. When you win the game, there is a blaring ‘fog horn’ sound effect, which is synonymous and popular to sound clashes in the dancehall space when a DJ is victorious. This sound is celebratory and acts as an instant mood boost for the player who won.

Game Play

The game show host is Trippple X who adds his unique charm, wit, and comedy, which makes the experience memorable. He tests the player’s knowledge of Dancehall Trivia throughout the show.

The game has three rounds. Overall, there are twelve questions with four questions per round. To be successful, you must make it to the end without getting three incorrect answers; if you get three questions wrong then you automatically lose the game.

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Each question is randomly selected from a set of questions grouped by their level of difficulty; they start easy but get harder as the game progresses. The questions cover the early stages of the industry and also include present-day content, which provides a holistic learning experience.

The game is seasonal, so it is only available for a limited time; it is updated with new questions every six months. As a bonus, participants can win prizes and surprises weekly and are offered unlimited entries.

In addition to its mobile and desktop versions, WYKBD also has a live component that is aired on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZMZpFpQfeY&t=1s. Here the host Trippple X takes the show into the streets of Kingston. Players are selected at random, where they also have a chance to win monetary prizes on the spot. This show has three rounds.

The player has a chance to win the following per round: Round 1- JMD $500, Round 2- JMD $1000, and Round 3- JMD $2000. If the player answers all the questions correctly they could walk away with JMD $10,000. This feature of the game provides quality entertainment for people who prefer a more relaxed approach to games by competing through others.

Pros:

  • Features an engaging game show host who provides quality entertainment and facilitates hints
  • Maintains dancehall theme throughout the game
  • Allows players to go at their own pace
  • Very compatible as the game can be played on both mobile phones and desktops.
  • Unlimited entries
  • Players have a chance to be incentivized

Cons: 

  • The game takes six months to be updated
  • Does not have a pause feature
  • Hints are sometimes too predictable
  • The sizing on the mobile version is a little off

Overall, Weh Yuh Know Bout Dancehall is a remarkable innovation that vibrantly highlights dancehall culture. It is suitable for most age groups and it provides an engaging way for millennials to connect with culture. Dancehall belongs to the Caribbean and through https://magnumhub.tv/game/ the game is available to everyone.

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