Students show how to save energy at home thanks to sustainable themed videogame

Applied Games students have teamed up to develop a sustainability-themed game as part of a module, which saw them work with the GCU Sustainability Team.

As part of the Game Preproduction Workshop module, students from the Applied Games department were set with the task of creating a game relating to a particular brief. In this case, a team of students chose to work with a brief set by the GCU Sustainability Team.

The brief involved raising awareness of how students and staff could adapt their behaviours around reducing energy consumption in a home setting.

The team, which grouped together students from across the Applied Games department, were able to develop a game titled “Sneaky Saving”; a stealth game which included puzzles designed to teach players about ways to save energy at home.

Game Development student Charlie Turnbull worked as a designer on the project and enjoyed the challenge of working on such a large scale game.,

“Our game Sneaky Saving is a simple stealth game with puzzle elements where you play as a small energy guardian who runs around homes trying to save as much energy as possible by turning off lights and other household appliances.” Charlie explained.

“I was a designer on this project. I created some levels, came up with our mechanics and made sure the game felt good to play! I wanted to create a unique experience where players could learn about a crucial topic while having fun!”

Computer Games (Art & Animation) student Jason Thomson worked as the lead artist on the project, helping design the look and art style of the game. He explained: “Sneaky Saving is a game where you play as a little spirit called the 'Energy Guardian' and your goal is to stealthily control the energy usage in a handful of different homes.

I was the lead artist for this project! The game's art style was inspired by games like Overcooked, Moving Out and Animal Crossing. The team agreed the games visuals should look modern and vibrant to match our energy theming which is how we came to the final look we have today.”

With the project now complete, Charlie and Jason are both pleased with the final product and hope that it will aid in raising awareness about an important modern topic.

“I'm very proud of what me and the rest of the team managed to create, and my experiences on this project taught me a lot about game development AND how important the little things we do to save energy are. Despite some bumps along the way I believe we managed to come out the other end with a really unique and fun game.” Jason said.

“It felt very special getting to contribute to a game that teaches people about the effect we as individuals have on our surroundings. More so now than ever it's important that we have good habits around sustainability and I hope this game helps to raise some awareness of this.”

Charlie saw the opportunity as great client experience and owes the game’s success to his teammates as well as the support from the Sustainability team. He said: “This was the largest project I've worked on, it was the biggest team I've worked with, the most time I've had on a project, and we got the opportunity to work with a great client.

All of these contributed to us being able to develop this game. If it wasn't for my team and the staff from the GCU Sustainability Team, I don't think I could've produced anything close to what we have now. That said, having the chance to work closely with our clients made it relatively easy to cover such an important topic. I learned A LOT in this project! It just felt great to have the opportunity to create something this impactful and to hopefully teach others about saving energy.”

You can play Sneaky Saving on the GCU Games Itch webpage

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media here