Online conservation game wins communicator awards

• Swinburne University

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17 June 2009Mission H2o, an online game themed around water conservation and developed by Swinburne University students and staff, has received two prestigious design awards.

The game recently won two Communicator Awards: the Gold Award of Excellence (Interactive - Green/Eco Friendly) and the Silver Award of Distinction (Interactive - Children’s Audience).

Created in the style of a pop-up book, Mission H2o is the result of a collaboration between Swinburne’s multimedia design department and non-profit organisation, the savewater!® Alliance.

It features the Wilson family – Barry Buckets, Barbara Bubbles, Chelsea Sprinkles, Johnny Hydro and Nana Flo – who guide players through eight sub-games contained within various parts of their home.

Players can test their knowledge about water conservation through quizzes and other interactive games. With each leak that is plugged and each tub of bath water that is recycled, your score increases.
The game is the work of 80 third year students and five lecturers from the university’s multimedia design program, and represents more than 18,000 hours of research and development.

“There are other games in the market that try to teach players different things however I haven’t seen anything like this in the water conservation area. It’s great for the target age group to interact and play with,” said Swinburne multimedia design lecturer James Marshall.

The Communicator Awards is an annual competition honouring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio.

The Award of Excellence is given to those entries whose ability to communicate puts them among the best in the field. The Award of Distinction is presented for projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievement.