I worked together with Slim Opgewekt to develop the game Prospera: an energy awareness game that was the result of a Master course at the department of Industrial Design and a collaboration with Nick Hermans, Karin Niemantsverdriet and Bart Wolfs).
Opportunity
The goal of SlimOpgewekt is to realise a future-worthy by bringing sustainability to schools across the Netherlands. Next to their main business (installation of solar panels) they wanted to focus on teaching sustainable behaviour to kids. They are the future, are they not?! I saw this a perfect opportunity to work on my UX skills.
Result
A fully working game for PC and Android devices which allows children to create their own planet and create a landscape full of cute animals by controlling the energy use in their classroom.
Prospera: an energy awareness game
Prospera is a conceptual game that lets you create your perfect world: Make mountains, dig for water and plant vegetation to sculpt the landscape the way you like. Be surprised by the animals will roam your world. Your world and the animals that call your planet your home are directly connected to your personal energy use. Turn on you heater and the temperature will rise, take a long shower and the water oceans will rise. Can you discover all the animals? Will you make the most beautiful planet in the galaxy?
The game is the result of a Master course in collaboration with Microsoft Design. Read more about how this game came to be here.
Game development
After my Masters I joined forces with Slim Opgewekt to make Prospera a real game. Together with a small team, I developed an alpha version of the game’s main features to test out with kids and their parents in primary schools.
The first iteration revolved around fine-tuning game mechanics. Before diving into programming a digital game, we created a boardgame version of the game. Together with children at two primary schools in the Netherlands, we explored how the planet could evolve during the game and which animals would be fitting rewards for specific energy use.
In the second iteration, we started with developing a fully working game. After several sprints, we managed to create a functioning alpha version that could be tested with children. The game was developed in AS3 (yeah, in hindsight not the best choice) for both computer and Android devices.
User testing
The alpha version was tested twice, with some tweeting in between. in a first test, we played the game together with kids and their parents. We focussed on whether children understand the game and whether parent appreciate the energy awareness theme embedded in the game. The game was fine-tuned based on the results of that test.
The second user test focussed on the children’s engagement with the game and with energy use in their class. The game was set-up in a class room and four groups of 4-5 children played the game for about 1 hour.
Results
The alpha version of Prospera was truly magical to kids. It was fascinating for them that they could use the heaters, water taps and lights in the room to influence their own planet and the animals they created. The game clearly increases their awareness of energy use and is so engaging that most kids did not want to stop playing. Prospera is now being further developed as a collaboration between Slim Opgewekt and Npower.
23
Primary schools had Prospera installed to teach kids about energy use.