IIT Madras students develop game to create awareness about COVID-19; Here's how to play

CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras Students have developed a digital game called “IITM Covid Game” to create awareness among the general public, particularly children, on the importance of following governmental precautions to safeguard themselves against the virus.

Apart from English, the ‘IITM Covid game’ has already been made available in 12 languages – Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu -- which is available free of cost.

This game is browser-based and can be played on several devices including Personal Computers, laptops, tablets and mobile phones, among others.

The game is available free of cost and can be played from the home page of www.letsplaytolearn.com

It is also available in the website of IIT Madras under

https://dost.iitm.ac.in/iitmdost/pages/game-corner

This game was created by students who took a nine-credit elective course called ‘Let’s Play To Learn’ offered during the January-May 2020 Semester, in which students were taught game-based learning tools and techniques.

Highlighting about the unique aspects of this game-based approach to creating awareness, Prof. Preeti Aghalayam, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “The full credit for this game goes to our students. It is a matter of great pride for me that they conceived this, at a time when the world was reeling under the pandemic.

The IITM Covid game is a small but very meaningful & engaging contribution, and it clearly exhibits how thoughtful and aware our students are!”

The students who took the course ‘Let’s Play To Learn’ team felt the need to not only spread awareness but also convey the message in a fun-filled method, applying their learnings in this elective.

The game takes inspiration from the famous ‘Super Mario’ game and consists of a character who encounters various right things – like masks, washing hands and also encounters things to be avoided – like hugs, handshakes.

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As the character does the right things, points keep getting added. If the character fails to avoid a wrong thing, points get deducted to highlight the consequence.

The game goes on for 1 minute and the players should aim for maximum points.

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