ACBC

Game against online bullying

Whatsapp, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok: a large part of young people’s social lives takes place online these days. These online forms of communication bring with them many wonderful opportunities, but also new dangers and risks. One of these is online bullying, also known as cyberbullying. Cyberbullying comes in many forms, from sexting to more subtle forms such as exclusion. As a technical partner in the European ACBC project, we are developing a serious game that trains young people to recognise, understand and prevent online bullying in all its manifestations.

The strength of ACBC
1
Based on international research on soft skills
2
Safe context to practice different roles
3
Tested by teenagers all over Europe

How do you empower young people against online bullying?

The ACBC project (in full: Address Cyberbullying By Creating Consious Online Community) is a collaborative project with partners from Romania, Portugal, Greece, England and Lithuania. Unfortunately, cyberbullying is not limited to national borders and is a significant problem among young people throughout Europe. The big challenge for us was therefore to find a form that is and remains interesting for a young, broad target group.

Young people from 13 to 18 years of age are online a lot and are overwhelmed with possibilities: everywhere are friends, new contacts, games and memes that fight for their attention. Ironically enough, the game’s look and feel had to be in keeping with the platforms on which online bullying occurs. It is not without reason that these platforms appeal so much to the target group. 

Zo hebben we het aangepakt

Na brainstorms met de Europese partners viel de keuze op een verhalend 2D gameconcept. Spelers krijgen herkenbare dilemma’s voorgelegd en moeten steeds kenbaar maken hoe zij zouden handelen in die situatie. Dit doen zij door naar links of naar rechts te ‘swipen’. De dilemma’s zijn samengesteld door jeugdhulpinstanties uit de verschillende Europese partnersteden en natuurlijk gebaseerd op ervaringen van de doelgroep zelf. De bètaversie werd in Nederland getest door Fier, het landelijk expertisecentrum op het gebied van geweld in afhankelijkheidsrelaties. De serious game tegen online pesten zal ingebed worden in de huidige structuren voor jeugdhulpverlening in verschillende Europese landen.

Design ACBC

“I have only positive things to say about the collaboration with 8D-Games. They have created games with high level of quality. We are collaborating for the ACBC project and their contribution is very important.”

Case: ACBC

Maria Skoufi

Senior Project Management

Deze power-up hebben we gerealiseerd

The tests with the target group provided new insights in terms of content, technology and graphics (as befits a good test!). It was decided to use more photos with emotion on the ‘playing cards’, so that the target group can better identify with the dilemmas. Guidelines for the use of the game have also been created, so that youth workers throughout Europe can adequately supervise the young people while they play.

Aan de slag met ACBC? Alle materialen zijn gratis beschikbaar via de App of Playstore.

Op zoek naar gedragsverandering?

Questions? Need a sparring partner?

Call +31(0) 58 843 57 57

Mail giel@8d-games.nl

Giel likes to think along!

Begin met ons creatieve starttraject. Samen met jou, de doelgroep en alle andere betrokkenen leggen we een stevige fundering onder je serious game of gamification. Meer draagkracht, minder risico’s tijdens het ontwikkelproces.

De serious game ACBC levert een belangrijke bijdrage aan de Sustainable Development Goal #10: Verminderde ongelijkheden en #4: Kwaliteitsonderwijs. De game helpt jongeren online pesten te herkennen, begrijpen en voorkomen door hen een veilige en leuke omgeving te bieden. Het moedigt jongeren ook aan om bewuster om te gaan met de online wereld en leert hen de gevolgen van hun acties in te zien. Door jongeren in staat te stellen bewuster en waakzamer online te zijn, helpt ACBC ongelijkheden te verminderen en biedt het een waardevolle leerervaring voor kwaliteitsonderwijs.

Working together with leading Ghanaian game studio Leti Arts

Cross-continental game development: how does it work and what can we learn from each other? Let’s have a chat about this with Giel Hekkert (8D Games) and Eyram Tawia (Leti Arts). They are currently working on Shkorey, an informative game about sexual health, pregnancy and birth care.

Lees blog

Abonneer je op onze nieuwsbrief