Overview
Plastic pollution is a massive ongoing problem that causes pollution of Earth’s resources. Most people are not aware of the current state of this issue and the entire lifecycle of plastics. The current education is believed to neither emphasize the urgency of this issue nor portray what the world could look like if plastic pollution gets out of hand. However, an interactive and gamified approach could inspire the young generation to learn more and change any negative habits in the future.
Primary school-aged children should be sensitized about the serious environmental threat and learn about real-life stories that emphasize the importance of its harmful effects. An educational game can evoke curiosity and result in high immersion by making players feel disgusted and fear possible future scenarios. Since the young generation has an affinity with video games, a serious game can teach them about plastic pollution, recycling, and consumption. Also, it can allow a more engaging experience to raise environmental awareness, resulting in a positive behavioral change with more long-term benefits.
Design Process
Before developing the low-fidelity prototype, we created a background story and narratives emphasizing the player's interactions. The ideation process was made for the goals, rules, mechanics, characters, and the look & feel of the game following our target population and any possible diversities. Based on previous ideation processes, screens for the low-fidelity prototype were created using Adobe Illustrator.
We conducted playtesting to test our early prototype using quantitative and qualitative methods among five playtesters. Statistical analysis showed an insignificant difference where the attitude of participants towards the importance of plastic pollution increased after the prototype. Designers were informed by the playtesters that they understood the game's primary goal. Implementing real-life scenarios of plastic pollution was crucial to increase the interactivity and engagement of the children who played this serious game. Additionally, the emphasis on plastic pollution, the importance of recycling, and the given facts were reported to be enjoyable to the playtesters.
Prototype
After completing each quest, rewards are shown as visual improvements within the game world, self-upgrades, and game elements necessary for future quests. Controls for this game were designed considering the primarily used platforms and control schemes by children. The game is played by moving and interacting with elements in the game world using the integrated heads-up display (HUD). The character movement is initiated by a joystick that also changes the camera angle and the direction of movement. Interactions are executed with a button that glows when an interaction is possible within the players' surroundings. Finally, an indicator arrow is implemented on top of the HUD that shows the direction of a quest.
The prototype focused on a serious educational game with a visceral narrative-based immersive experience. It uses a low poly 3d art style to balance the complexity for the target audience. The gameplay is based on a story-based approach, with additional mini-games that result in an adventurous experience. Players interact with the game as a robot accompanied by a cat that gives information about the human negligence in the past that created this dystopia and guides the robot along the way to finish the main storyline. The main goal is to make a town inhabitable by reducing plastic pollution by following a storyline of multiple levels. Therefore, the player must free-roam and interact with a companion and the environment.
