Whether you live inland or by the sea, plastic pollution is undeniably a big crisis. Plastic on the ocean’s surface can trap sunlight, making the surface warmer and reducing the amount of light and heat travelling to the depths of the ocean. Scientists have warned that if plastic litter were to suffuse the ocean’s surface, it can have ripple effects on marine ecosystems, thereby affecting the planet’s overall climate system. Building upon the same idea, this Pune-based gaming studio Aryavarta Technologies have tied up with Dropledge to launch the game Ocean Heroes: Make Ocean Plastic Free. It is a game based on a social cause which aims to reduce plastic pollution in the sea.
In conversation with AnimationXpress, Aryavarta Technologies co-founder Nilesh Gawde shares “there are million tons of plastics are polluting the water bodies, thinking of which me and my friends realised how to create awareness in terms of plastic usage in the form of gamification? Nowadays we tell everyone that not to use plastic then they will say okay I will not use or they might ignore. However, through gamification, it will put more impact.”
He has also highlighted the fact that the best way to create awareness is by targeting the kids as they are the next generation and if we start making them aware now then we stand a chance of a healthier future. He added, “The most interesting topic for them is gaming and when they found awareness in the form of gaming at the early age with regards to the depredations of plastic-use, automatically it will have a larger impact. This will hopefully reduce plastic use in the environment in future.”
For the game, the studio has tied up with NGO Sagarshakti who are working on the problem of sea plastic pollution and the studio aims to donate 90 per cent of the profit to the NGO. “From the game, we have added the option to contribute the revenue earned to Sagarshakti . With the help of which, the NGOs can increase the speed of work of ocean cleaning with the fund contributed to them,” he added.
The game has recently launched on android version however post 15 February, it will launch on iOS as well. The studio is currently working on the iOS project. The studio has been working on the game since last one year and are aiming to launch more games on social games in future. He shares that they are currently working on another game based on women self-defence which they are planning to launch by the end of this year. Apart from that, “ We are planning to launch a game on deforestation too, perhaps next year and we are aiming to launch a bunch of games on social good as well. Currently, we are a team of 16 however we have created a special team to work on social cause games like this.”
Since they are aiming to launch seven other games on social issues, they are aiming to tie up with more NGOs that are relevant to the causes we champion. He expressed, “We have tied up with Sagarshakti now for water pollution domain. Likewise, for our other social cause games, we will tie up with NGOS who are working on that particular social issue.“
The game was recently launched and within a very short space of time, it has received 30,000 plus downloads at google play store with all positive responses.