Students from Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen (the Netherlands) have created a game for Repair Café International. Their mission: to show young people that repairing things can be fun and meaningful.
How to make repairing cool for younger generations?
Students from the Creative Media & Game Technologies programme wanted to make a real impact on sustainability. That’s why they teamed up with Repair Café International for their graduation project. After months of hard work, their game Patch-up Planet is ready. The target audience? Teens and young adults. “Right now, most Repair Café visitors are older,” says student Thomas Bakker. “To get young people excited about repairing, we tapped into something they already love: gaming!”
A robot on a repair mission
The five-person design team came up with Patch, a curious little exploration robot. Patch lands on a broken-down planet with a mission: help the local inhabitants bring all sorts of damaged objects back to life. His ultimate goal? Repair a giant kettle that supplies hot water to the entire planet.
The choice of a kettle wasn’t random, explains student Lea Molema. “It’s one of the more common items brought into Repair Cafés.” The game also mirrors real life by highlighting the joy of fixing things together. And the sustainable impact is clear: with every successful repair, the once grey planet transforms into lush, vibrant green.
A playful take on a serious topic
“By letting Patch travel across an entire planet, we show the massive scale of our throwaway culture,” Thomas explains. “We’re turning a heavy topic into something accessible and enjoyable.” “And,” adds Rieneke Post, project supervisor from Repair Café International, “the planet’s residents only have one world — just like us.”
More information
- Watch the trailer on YouTube
- The game is free to download for Windows PCs
This post has 0 comments