WaterAid is the leading clean water, sanitation and hygiene charity worldwide. They have a mission to end poverty by providing clean water and toilets to everyone, everywhere by 2030. We worked closely with their digital engagement team to develop a gamification strategy and suite of game based learning tools. The games would inform, educate and entertain children and young people in water, hygiene and sanitation.
The aim of the digital campaign was to disseminate WaterAid’s core messages in a gamified and engaging way to children, young people and families. Working with WaterAids education and digital engagement lead, we were tasked with conceptualising, designing and developing three different digital products. Each digital product was aimed at three different audiences and each required the right:
WaterQuest is aimed at secondary school children for use in the classroom. In this 3D educational game, young people explore Ambohimahatsinjo, a rural village in the highlands of Madagascar. Players learn about the hardships caused by lack of clean water and toilets. They explore the village, talk to villagers and create a report to help WaterAid decide what solutions to implement.
Ambohimahatsinjo is a tight-knit community and people in the village are hard-working. However, they face many hardships because they don't have clean water or toilets in their village. In their mission, young people interact with the villagers to research the problems that they face. They listen to their stories and gather evidence as they explore. For each problem that they uncover, they are able to research and propose different solutions.
Players need to make sure they find out exactly what each solution entails before compiling a report for WaterAid. The solutions also need to consider that funds may be limited! After a few months, players can see the impact of their solution on the village , discovering how it’s changed.
AngryTurds is an educational game aimed at children and families, but also the big kid in all of us. It is based in the popular Angry Birds slingshot format. It has a level editor and a poo character creator and hilarious sound effects.
Angry Turds is a digital engagement tool to highlight that there are 2.4 billion people around the world without a toilet. In fact, 1 in 3 people have nowhere safe or private to go to the toilet. This leads to people having to go outdoors, spreading deadly disease.
Angry Turds is a fun way to get people talking about why poo needs to go in toilets. It carries a serious message about:
There are 30 levels to play in angry turds, each of them getting more fiendishly complicated. Players visit exotic environments on their way, from the jungle to the desert - but beware of obstacles! The fauna and flora of the place may get in the way, preventing your turd from reaching its target.
The stinky stars of the game! Each turd has special powers that players can use to send them packing to a shiny toilet!
Players can design their own turd characters, whether gassy fellows or elegant lady turds. Then, create their own levels with a choice of toilets, obstacles and props. Test it, save it, and play!
Germ Zapper helps nursery and reception age children explore the world of germs. Children discover where they may be hiding in the house, and why it is important to wash hands. In addition to fun hide-and-seek and zap-a-germ games, it offers a comprehensive animated explanation of the proper hand-washing procedure.
The game supports the Early Years Foundation Framework, in particular:
Game based learning is a valuable tool for digital engagement, particularly with children and young people. Gamification can be effective in motivating players to gain a more in depth understanding on a topic. This helps raise awareness about issues and enables players to see things from different perspectives.
The games that we created for WaterAids digital campaign are regularly used in classrooms, at events, and in workshops. They are also available to play online and via the app stores. The games were available via the WaterAid kiosk in Kidzania London. The AngryTurds level editor was included at the Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair.
All of the games were developed as cross-platform apps with Unity, our platform of choice for cross-platform game development. They are available on mobile, tablet, desktop and the browser. To play the games visit the WaterAid Games website.
WaterQuest games were developed as cross-platform games with Unity and published for desktop, web, mobile and tablet devices.
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