Level up! Your planet is flourishing

The brief

Motivate the general public to index what flowers grow in their city parks and neighborhoods. We approached it with an extensive concept phase and weeks of user testing.

Technology for good

Partnering with experienced game designers, we found a way to tie together scientists, AI recognition algorithms and enthusiastic gamers.

Planet 15

The result was a fun and immersive mobile game that inspires citizens to explore nearby local nature while helping scientists collect environmental data.

Sometimes, your work will take you by surprise. We didn't set out to create a game. Through extensive experimentation and prototyping we arrived at the conclusion that the best incentive for citizen to engage in local biodiversity is to give them something to care for, something to fight for – their very own planet.

Throughout the process we explored many concepts. To test their feasibility in both game mechanics and expression, some were visualized and others were refined to a working prototype. They were all tested against the target audience, giving us valuable insights as to which aspects users found the most engaging and rewarding.

Three different concepts
Early design sketches for Planet 15
Screenshots from the user testing prototypes

Even the experts know very little about the plants that live and grow around our cities. Using AI algorithms to identify and classify the flowers that are captured in the game, Planet 15 is helping scientists, urban planners and decision makers to create sustainable cities in harmony with nature. Players also learn about the delicate balance of life on planet Earth, as they care for their own planet in the game.