Preventing Day Zero
Belmont, MA
2021, Senior, Interactive & Multimedia
Project Description: A series of small settlements are facing a water crisis similar to the situation in Cape Town, South Africa three years ago, and the countdown till Day Zero has begun!
The game’s central aim is to prevent the total water supply (displayed in the upper left of the screen) from reaching 0. You can stop it from decreasing by spending money in the town at the center of the map, which goes towards raising awareness and lobbying for better infrastructure. Note from the rate that as time goes on, the water level decreases faster and faster—driven by changing storm patterns and more extreme weather due to climate change.
There are three different mini-games around the map, each of which offer the opportunity to earn valuable money:
Quick Quiz: The man will ask you to take a multiple choice quiz with 50 questions in total, though you are not obligated to answer them all. After answering each question, the game will give more information about the topic, often accompanied by a visual as well. You can choose to end the quiz at any point by pressing the end button. After the quiz, you earn $5 for each question you get correct.
Cleanup Crew: People have been dumping a lot of trash into the rivers recently, and the lady needs your help to clean it up. Click and drag each piece off the screen. After the last piece of trash has been properly disposed of, she’ll pay you $30 and you’ll increase the city water supply by 100 units.
Pipe Pro: The town’s plumbing infrastructure is severely outdated, exacerbating access issues. Click on each tile to change the orientation of the pipes; they always rotate clockwise. Connect all of them so that water can flow to the town. There are 10 different pipe puzzles altogether, each of which can earn you $50.
You’ll have to move around the map, but be careful: traversing mountains, rivers, or marshes in comparison to grassland will significantly slow you down. At the town in the center, you can exchange $150 to decrease the water consumption rate by 1 unit (the money goes towards improving infrastructure, educating the public about water conservation, and setting up desalination plants). The man will also give you tips on how you can conserve water in real life.
Reflection
Reflection
Living through the pandemic has made many things I used to take for granted difficult to access, while also allowing me to appreciate what I do have: particularly running water. I’ve learned how water holds together our world, regulating everything from weather patterns to ecosystems. Marine life, after all, produces up to 80% of the oxygen we breathe. Though my game primarily deals with freshwater access—a problem for billions of people around the world—it’s also important to keep in mind the bigger picture regarding climate change and dangerously high sea levels, which have resulted in these access issues. Through Day Zero, I’ve had the opportunity to channel my skills in computer science and coding to create a game that can introduce these problems to younger generations, and spark interest in forming tangible solutions. I hope the mini-games are an interactive, engaging simplification of what people can actually do to conserve water.