Willy Werkel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willy Werkel and his dog Buffa in a Swedish children's playground.

Willy Werkel is a character invented by the Swedish children's author George Johansson , who acts as the main character in several of Johansson's children's book series. The books are illustrated by Jens Ahlbom , Angelika Kutsch translated some books into German . These have been published by Carlsen Verlag since 1994 .

The main character Willy Werkel is called Mulle Meck in the original Swedish edition of the books . Translations have also appeared in various other countries, such as Finland ( Masa Mainio ), Estonia ( Meistri-Märten ) Norway ( Martin Mekk ), Denmark ( Mik Mekanik ), the Netherlands ( Miel Monteur ), England ( Freddy Fixer ) and the United States ( Gary Gadget ). The books are accompanied by several films and a series of computer games , the first episode of which was published in 1997.

Books

The character Willy Werkel was introduced by Johansson in 1993 with the book Mulle Meck bygger en bil . Since then, over 30 books with Willy Werkel have been published.

Movies

Based on the books Mulle Meck bygger en bil , Mulle Meck bygger en båt , Mulle Meck bygger ett flygplan and Mulle Meck bygger ett hus , four cartoons were produced, which were released on DVD in Sweden in 2003 with the title Filmen om hur Mulle Meck bygger and in 2004 under the English title Freddy Fixer Builds were published. In 2008 another DVD was released, entitled Fulle Fart med Mulle Meck .

Computer games

Willy Werkel
Original title Mulle Meck
developer ELD interactive production
Gravity e-learning
Pipistrello
Publisher Levande Böcker
Terzio Verlag
First title Building cars with Willy Werkel (1998)
Last title Building spaceships with Willy Werkel (2005)
Platform (s) Windows , Mac OS
Genre (s) Educational game

The five Willy Werkel computer games were developed in collaboration with George Johansson and Jens Ahlbom and appeared from 1997 by the Swedish software company Levande Böcker . Lennart Jähkel acted as the spokesman for the main character . In the German version of Building Cars with Willy Werkel , Willy Werkel is spoken by Peter Lustig .

The games were published in German by Terzio Verlag from 1998 . In addition, the games were partially translated into English , Russian and Dutch .

chronology

No. German title year Swedish title year Book template year
1 Build cars with Willy Werkel 1998 Bygg bilar with Mulle Meck 1997 Willy Werkel builds a car ( Mulle Meck bygger en bil ) 1993
2 Build ships with Willy Werkel 1999 Bygg båtar with Mulle Meck 1998 Willy Werkel builds a ship ( Mulle Meck bygger en båt ) 1994
3 Build planes with Willy Werkel 2001 Bygg flygplan with Mulle Meck 2000 Willy Werkel builds an airplane ( Mulle Meck bygger ett flygplan ) 1995
4th Build houses with Willy Werkel 2003 Bygg hus with Mulle Meck 2002 Mulle Meck bygger ett hus 1997
5 Building spaceships with Willy Werkel 2005 Upptäck rymden with Mulle Meck 2004 no book template -

For the fifth part there was no book. For the game, however, Willy Werkel's big book about space: planets, comets, spaceships, galaxies, black holes ( Ut i rymden med Mulle Meck ) was published as a thematically appropriate book that is also marketed as a book about the game.

Platforms

All five parts have been published for Windows and - with the exception of the game Willy Werkel - build planes - also for Mac OS .

The first two games, Building Cars and Ships with Willy Werkel , were re-released in 2007 in a Windows XP compatible version.

content

The games are about a man named Willy Werkel known from the children's books by George Johannson , who builds cars , ships , planes , houses or spaceships depending on the game .

Build cars with Willy Werkel

In the first game, build cars with Willy Werkel ; the player builds a car from parts from the junkyard, which he then drives through the city. When exploring the game world, care must be taken that the gasoline does not run out.

In order to achieve certain goals, the car has to be rebuilt regularly. For example, the car must not exceed a certain maximum weight when crossing a wooden bridge. Or the car must have a particularly powerful engine in order to come up a steep slope. On the other hand, in order to win at an auto show, many optional parts and decorations must be built in.

When building the car, the player is supported by the character Willy Werkel, who gives advice if necessary and explains the respective components. Further figures give the player tasks that he can fulfill. For example, he has to bring back the scrap dealer Fiete Ferrum's dog . For this, the player receives an additional petrol can as a reward. He can find components by the roadside or in Willy Werkel's scrapyard, or "Fiete Ferrum" brings a load past.

The game does not have a fixed goal.

Build ships with Willy Werkel

In the second game, Building Ships with Willy Werkel , Willy produces ships. At the beginning of the game, the player learns that Willy drove to the end of the road in his car and wanted to know how to proceed. So he built a rowboat and set off. Willy arrives at a shipyard. There the owner asks him to take care of the shipyard while she sails around the world. In this game, Willy again receives assignments that the player should master. He gets the ship parts from Doris Digital .

Build planes with Willy Werkel

In the third game, Building Planes with Willy Werkel , you learn that Willy found the abandoned hangar of two aircraft builders on an excursion and wants to try his hand at it. In this game, too, he receives the parts from Doris Digital . Willy flies to his friends and, like in the predecessors, receives orders that the player tries to carry out by plane. The aim of the game is to complete the map.

Build houses with Willy Werkel

In the fourth game Building Houses with Willy Werkel , Willy Werkel builds a dream house after a tree that fell over in a storm fell on his house. In his garage and with his friends, Willy Werkel has to gather and procure the necessary parts.

Building spaceships with Willy Werkel

In the fifth game Building Spaceships with Willy Werkel , you tell the player that Willy was sitting on the terrace of the house that he built with Willy Werkel in the previous game Building Houses and was looking at the sky. Then he felt like flying into space. In this game you not only fly in space, but also fulfill missions on earth. He drives to his friends in a car. Of course, he also builds the spaceships himself from parts that are already in stock in Willy Werkel's shed or that have to be obtained first.

reception

The c't judged the game building cars with Willy Werkel as follows: “Building cars with Willi Werkel is nicely done, but cannot replace your own handicraft experience.” Netzwelt.de build cars with Willy Werkel as “an entertaining learning program for children from six years of age , which teaches basic technical knowledge in the field of cars and mechanics in a playful way ". In Thomas Feibel's 1999 children's software guide , the game was praised as a great game that encourages creativity and a good mood, and received 6 mice, the best possible rating.

Netzwelt.de tested building aircraft with Willy Werkel on February 7, 2010 and rated it as follows: "It is particularly commendable that creative solutions are encouraged here." c't tested the computer games building planes with Willy Werkel in issue 17/2001, building houses with Willy Werkel in issue 23/2003 and building spaceships with Willy Werkel in issue 24/2005. The “Institute for Children's Media Research” stated about building spaceships with Willy Werkel : “Long-term gaming fun is guaranteed!” The Internet center for educational media also recommended the games. They are entertaining and instructive, the game idea is timeless.

The website bibernetz.de of the association Schulen ans Netz assessed the game building spaceships with Willy Werkel from the point of view of gender studies and found that the game is mainly aimed at boys, but renounces role stereotypes. According to the author of the article, a second, female main character would have done the game good.

Use in school lessons

The game was recommended for primary school lessons in the magazine “ Studium - Arbeit + Technik” . It can be used in technically oriented subject teaching , but interdisciplinary teaching in connection with children's books has also been suggested. The use of new media such as computer games promotes the motivation to learn. In order to act not only on the auditory-visual-cognitive level, a practical supplement z. B. recommended by construction kits. Three school hours should be planned for the game itself. It is also mentioned that there is no violence in the game and no accidents can happen.

Awards

  • 2000: Impulse building a seal of approval for ships with Willy Werkel
  • 2001: Building Pädi seal of approval for aircraft with Willy Werkel
  • 2006: Building Pädi seal of approval for spaceships with Willy Werkel
  • 6 mice by Thomas Feibel for building cars with Gary Gadget , aircraft building with Gary Gadget and build ships with Gary Gadget .
  • 2008: Clever of the week for building cars with Willy Werkel and building ships with Willy Werkel

literature

  • Heiko Rockel: Build crazy cars with Willy Werkel. A computer game in science lessons in the classroom - work + technology , issue 1/1999. Erhard Friedrich Verlag, Seelze

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.content-tv.com/jan06/werkel.html
  2. http://www.georgejohansson.se/om-mulle-meck/mulle-meck-pa-olika-sprak/
  3. [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.lovefilm.se  
  4. http://www.svt.se/2.129192/1.935156/utskriftsvanligt_format?printerfriendly=true
  5. http://www.svt.se/2.129192/1.935156/utskriftsvanligt_format?printerfriendly=true
  6. a b Rockel, p. 6
  7. Mulle-Meck licensed games at MobyGames (English)
  8. Willy Werkel's great book from space ( Memento from August 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) at Quinto-Verlag
  9. [2]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.medienprofile.de  
  10. Thomas Schult: Bye-bye Barbie - High-Tech in the nursery published in c't 25/98
  11. http://www.netzwelt.de/download/10955-autos-bauen-willy-werkel.html ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  12. Thomas Feibel: Kinder-Software-Ratgeber 1999 , quoted in Rockel, p. 7
  13. Building aircraft with Willi Werkel ( Memento from April 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), test at Netzwelt.de from February 7, 2010
  14. Thomas Schult: c't archive, 17/2001, page 184 (with costs)
  15. Frank Möcke: c't archive, 23/2003, page 242 (fee required )
  16. Dorothee Wiegand: c't archive, 24/2005, page 234 (subject to a charge)
  17. Building spaceships with Willy Werkel ( Memento from March 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  18. a b Stefan Michaelis: Scrap parts as a creative engine for physics . zum.de, October 21, 2008
  19. Imke Troltenier: The "small difference" in computer games. Example 1: Building spaceships with Willy Werkel ( Memento from March 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . bibernetz.de, October 29, 2008
  20. a b Rockel, p. 5
  21. Rockel, p. 7
  22. [3]  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 16@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.hallo-fritzi.de  
  23. PC games & educational software for children 6-10 years ( Memento from December 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  24. http://www.playeratgeber-nrw.de/?siteid=2653
  25. [4]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 2@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sin-net.de  
  26. http://www.feibel.de/index.php?id=7&catId=19&prodId=2160&cHash=052aa93a0f
  27. http://www.feibel.de/index.php?id=7&catId=19&prodId=3080&cHash=be53856488
  28. http://www.feibel.de/index.php?id=7&catId=19&prodId=2139&cHash=57805c4349