Tina’s Hands World
Hand-washing game for children
Can a serious game teach children to wash their hands better? With this question, the University of Twente and the University of Münster approached 8D Games. It soon became clear that children often do know that washing their hands is important. However, it is not always clear how and when it is best to wash your hands. With a prototype, we started to investigate how serious gaming could change this. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
The power of Tina’s hand-washing game
Learning how to wash your hands properly through gaming
The assignment for us was to develop a game prototype that would transfer knowledge about hand washing to young children in an appealing, activating way. With a prototype, you mainly want to know whether the mechanics are effective and connect to the target group, without immediately developing a whole product.
At the same time, a young target group is not able to ‘see through’ the prototype, so even before testing the gameplay, a lot of appealing artwork and functionalities will have to be worked out. The trick was to find the right balance.
This is how we tackled it
This is how we tackled itBased on interviews, we investigated what children already know about handwashing and what exactly their information needs are. For example: in which situations is it difficult to wash your hands, even though you know you have to? And if you do skip it once in a while, when do you do it? Using very simple prototypes, we also tested how much information children aged 6 to 8 can process through a game. We discovered that children of this age can handle more information than we had expected, especially when it is presented in the right way.
This power-up we have realised
This power-up we have realisedWe have developed a point-and-click adventure game with two types of gameplay. On the one hand, children are taken into a fantasy story within the ‘world of hands’ of Tina. In the world of hands, children see that some places – for example, damp locations with little fresh air – are more attractive to bad bacteria. In these places they find many more ‘bacteria dolls’ than in other places. Children are challenged to recognise these characteristics. Using a puzzle game, they then learn in what order they can best perform the ‘hand-washing steps’.
Want to know more?
Call 058 843 57 57
Mail johan@8d-games.nl
Johan will tell you more during an introductory meeting, without any obligation!