Two Pakistani youngsters develop world’s first game to help fight COVID-19

KARACHI: Two Pakistani youngsters have developed the world’s first multi-platform game to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic by breaking myths and applying behavioral changes to embrace the new normal.

The game ‘STOP the SPREAD’ is based on design thinking and gamification principles. It helps the players to learn and be more motivated to share the acquired knowledge over coronavirus.

The game has six levels and in the first four, one has to learn the facts, bust the myths, and learn about preventions and precautions. The fifth level is unlocked only when you prove that you have learned enough to practice in public.

If the player continues to perform successfully by practicing the social distancing standard operation procedures (SOPs), he will be graduated level six and the player will get to enjoy eliminating the coronavirus from the world.

The game has been developed by a 13-year-old Nabhan and 14-year-old Kenan. The kid duo started working on the free-to-play game towards the end of February this year. The duo completed the game in April 2020.

Both Nabhan and Kenan have never been to any school, neither home-schooled. They developed the game from basic literacy to numeracy, coding, design, and animation.