In a region plagued by natural disasters, a new game app shows children how to prepare for, respond to and recover from tsunamis and earthquakes
At first, Tanah, a small girl with big eyes, pigtails and a jaunty hat may not seem the best teacher of the skills needed to survive a major disaster. But the developers of mobile gaming app Tanah: The Tsunami & Earthquake Fighter are betting she will do just that.
Created jointly by Unesco and software developer Open Dream, the app aims to teach children how to prepare for, respond to and recover from tsunamis and earthquakes.
With 20 levels to navigate, youngsters guide Tanah and her pet dragon Pado around a colourful island known for its extreme weather. On her way, Tanah encounters a number of challenges related to disaster-risk reduction. First, she prepares her home, and then goes on to deal with the immediate effects and aftermath of a disaster. During gameplay, multiple lessons are reinforced through repetition, and scenarios must be completed before moving on to the next level.
“I’m not a games person, but I like this game because it enables children to learn something very naturally,” said Hyunkyung Jasmine Lee, a disaster risk management consultant for Unesco based in Bangkok.
With children one of the most at-risk groups in the event of tsunamis or earthquakes, and with the Asia-Pacific region prone to such disasters, finding an innovative way to increase awareness and readiness was paramount.
The app was developed as a sequel to the successful Sai Fah: The Flood Fighter, released in 2013, which was Unesco’s first foray into ‘gameification’.
Tanah is currently available in English, Thai and Bahasa Indonesian and is soon to be released in Nepali. Versions in other languages look likely to follow.
“For now, we’re going to focus on promoting it in this region, then explore putting it out in different languages and then developing something else to deal with other types of hazards, such as typhoons,” said Lee.
Tanah: The Tsunami & Earthquake Fighter is available as a free download at the App Store and Google Play.
