ABOUT
THE GAME:
DIG! The Maya Project is a web-based game that focuses on Maya art
and culture. All artworks in the game are in the Dallas Museum of
Art’s collection of Ancient American art. The game was designed
and created by a team of students and faculty from the Institute
for Interactive Arts and Engineering at the University of Texas
at Dallas and staff from the Dallas Museum of Art.
PLAYING THE GAME:
You have just been accepted as an intern for DIG: The Maya Project!
Game play starts with an invitation to assist one of three archaeologists.
DIG SITES
After you choose an archaeologist to assist, you will begin your
internship at an imaginary archaeological dig site. At the site,
discover Maya objects by clicking on brown dots scattered throughout.
The layout of each dig site is unique, but the objects collected
are the same at all sites. Disclaimer: The imaginary
dig sites created for the game are based on actual sites in Central
America and Mexico. Objects were placed in the same site for the
purposes of game play. Maya objects in the collection of the Dallas
Museum of Art did not all come from the same context, or dig sites,
in actuality.
THE
JOURNAL
A symbol for a journal appears in the lower left hand corner of
the dig site. You may choose to click on the journal at any time
to see what is inside. The journal holds images, games, and information
about Maya art and culture. There is an introductory page that
tells you how the journal is organized. Click on one of the four
journal tabs to move through the journal. The tabs are labeled:
FOUND OBJECTS
This journal section holds images and information about all the
Maya objects a player collects at the dig site.
• On the left page are some of the
objects that you collected at the site. Click on an image to learn
more about them.
• On the right page are the most treasured
Maya objects collected. Click on one of the detail images to play
a game and learn more about the object! When you first click on
the detail, the object will appear in black and white and you
will not get much information. To play the game, click on the
object. If you win the game and recover the object, you will get
to see the object in color and you will find out more about how
it was used and what it meant to the Maya people.
• Also on the right page is a thumbnail
image of a gallery. Click on this image to see the objects displayed
in a gallery. This will give you a sense of the scale, or size,
of the objects.
SKETCHPAD
This journal section is a place to have some fun sketching.
MY NOTES
This journal section is a place to collect your thoughts and answer
some questions about Maya art and culture. You can select from
a variety of questions on the left page and type your answers
on the right page.
DR. JONES’ NOTES
This journal section holds all of the archaeologist’s general
information about Maya culture. You can play with interactive
toys and learn about everything from Maya writing and numbers
to details about the Maya ballgame. Just click on one of the glyphs
next to each topic and explore more!
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Good luck with your internship!
