The client —
The Water Cycle game is one of the 4 interactive installations/games we designed for the Ghajn – Water Conservation Awareness Center in Malta. The Center is open to schools and the public. With these games it aims to raise awareness on the water challenges faced by the Maltese islands and the Mediterranean. The project was supervised by Medies as to the educational practice and was organized by GWP Mediterranean, who was also responsible for the correct presentation of the water facts.
The game is a fun and educational experience for children aged between 7 and 10. They learn about the basics of the water cycle, as well as how human activities effect the environment and the water cycle. The game is displayed on a large screen installation (135x241cm) that consists of 4 smaller screens, paired together as a unit.
The creative concept —
Starting from the concept, we also directed the gameplay and delivered all the design elements, illustrations and animations. The experience consists of an introductory video and the actual game, which has 3 stages.
Stage 1 simulates the main processes of the water cycle: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, run-off and infiltration. The players follow the movements of water within the cycle and can interact with basic elements (geomorphology, landscape, etc.) to discover how they influence the water cycle.
In stage 2, players discover the agrochemical pollution that humans cause and stage 3 showcases the problem of urbanization and how it affects the water cycle. The background setting was inspired by the Mediterranean landscape, while in stage 3, it was specifically located in Malta.
The explanatory video contributes to the effectiveness of the game regarding its educational functionality, since it gives a thorough insight of this topic in a narrative way. With the help of Medies, we created a script with simple and comprehensive storytelling, to keep the children engaged.
