Code of Everand

It uses a virtual world designed to help children develop safe road crossing skills, with the intention that this will translate into real world behaviour.

Code of Everand is purposely not explicitly linked to government and the key message of promotional activity is to convince children that the game is fun and engaging to play in its own right.

The core mechanic of the game uses a road crossing metaphor: players travel through the fantasy land of Everand which is criss-crossed by spirit channels inhabited by dangerous creatures. Actual road-related data (such as traffic data) is used so players confront hazards based on the real situations they face on the roads.

In order to succeed and progress through the game, players must cross spirit channels and demonstrate several road safety skills: route planning, finding a safe place to cross and stopping and looking all around before crossing. These skills are particularly vital for children making the transition to secondary school as they start making longer journeys independently. Twice as many 12-year-old as nine-year-old pedestrians are hurt each year on Britain’s roads and in 2008, 19 children aged 9-12 were killed and more than 3,000 were injured.

DfT research showed that the problem is not a knowledge deficit; children in this age group tend to know the theory of good road skills but fail to put this knowledge into practice. The game is designed to demonstrate the value of these skills and make their practice habitual.

Although the use of games in behaviour change campaigns is relatively new, there is an increasing amount of evidence at a UK, EU and global level regarding the possible benefits, which include the development of essential skills such as logical thinking, planning ahead and cooperation.

Gaming provides a platform for actual participation and interaction, offering a depth of engagement well beyond the reach of the traditional one-way broadcasting of messages to children. This also aligns with latest trends in the target age group’s media consumption, with Youth TGI 2009 showing that 77.8% of 10-12 year olds play games online.

The THINK! team took advice from leading figures in education and gaming and worked with renowned games specialist Area/Code to create Code of Everand. Following ministerial approval, the game launched in November 2009.

A variety of channels have been used to promote the game including online and print editorial, online display advertising, a presence on social networks like Facebook and advertising on key children’s TV channels. In addition, game features have been updated and improved, subsequent to player feedback, to offer a more exciting and engaging game play experience.

This approach has proved very successful to date. We are able to access a rich level of in-game data which shows that:
• More than 100,000 registered players have created a game character.
• On average, players log in and play the game for half an hour every week.
• 1,314,063 crossings have been completed and the time spent by players in Code of Everand, is 9,074,702 minutes which equates to 17.27 years.

Working with DfT policy and social research colleagues, a year-long evaluation project has been commissioned to assess the impact of Code of Everand.