Tommi - A Web-Based Serious Game for Children Incentivizing a Healthy Lifestyle Combined with Environmental Awareness

Healthy food alternatives, as well as the impact of food items on the environment, are often overlooked when grocery shopping. The lack of education and missing early contact with these topics in childhood are major contributing factors. We want to take a closer look at a balanced diet and the environmental impact of food production based on the literature and an interview conducted with a representative of German farmers. This will lay the foundation for a Serious Game targeting children between 9 and 12 years old. As teaching content, the Nutri-Score and healthy recipes combined with topics such as regionality, seasonality as well as water and CO2-eq. Footprint will be included in a child-friendly representation in the form of a farming simulation called ‘Tommi’. Game mechanics include scanning real food items via barcodes and physical game cards describing recipes, which are presented as traditional trading cards. This connects virtuality with physicality and allows the children to engage with food products outside of the farming simulation by linking to the child’s personal food choices. Additionally, eye-tracking for attention analysis to adapt to the difficulty of the game is included. The project is evaluated in two user studies with positive outcomes, such as the age group being appropriately chosen, as well as findings, such as the learning content being accepted with an impact on consumer behavior.