A game application is trying to raise awareness of the now largely forgotten epic floods which inundated Pakistan almost a year ago, hoping to use social media and smart phones to reach an untapped group of people.
“Relief Copter” is an effort by a small, Islamabad-based media firm to highlight the plight of survivors of last year’s disaster, which decimated villages from the far north to the deep south, disrupting the lives of over 18 million people and killing nearly 2,000.
The game, which features a relief helicopter that drops crates of aid items which must be navigated to various points, is available free for Nokia, iPhone and Facebook, and has generated over 90,000 downloads since its launch in October.
After each level is completed, along with a slideshow, the app displays a photograph and “flood fact” about the disaster, which is seen as one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent times – even bigger than 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
“When we were designing the app, it seemed like the floods had completely washed away the world’s conscience, no one seemed to take notice. So that’s where the idea came from,” said Mohsin Afzal, the 28-year-old CEO of werplay, which developed the game.
“You have a captive audience that is engaged, and you can use games as a medium to raise awareness and funds for a good cause,” he told AlertNet by phone from Islamabad.
Both versions of Relief Copter were developed in around three months. Afzal told The Express Tribune on January 7 that it took his team this long because it was their first title. “We partnered with Bangladesh-based G4R to help us out with the development,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2011.
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