CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) students have developed a digital 'IIT-M Covid Game' to create awareness among the general public, particularly children, on the importance of following precautions to safeguard themselves against the disease, said a statement from the institute on Monday.
The game is browser-based and can be played on several devices including computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones, among others. It is available free of cost and can be played from the home page of www.letsplaytolearn.com. It is also available on https://dost.iitm.ac.in/iitmdost/pages/game-corner.
Based on initial prototyping and feedback from different audiences, the student team translated the game to several Indian regional languages to improve its reach, the statement said. Apart from
English, the game is available in 12 languages – Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu.
This game was created by students who took an elective course called ‘Let’s Play To Learn’, in which they were taught game-based learning tools and techniques. The game takes inspiration from the famous ‘Super Mario’ game and consists of a character who encounters various right things – like masks and washing hands – and also encounters things to be avoided – like hugs and handshakes – the statement said.
As the character does the right things, points keep getting added. If the character fails to avoid a wrong thing, points get deducted to highlight the consequences. The game goes on for 1 minute and the
players should aim for maximum points.