Computer games promote water conservation in Malta

Life is more fun if you play games, said celebrated author Roald Dahl, but wouldn’t it be even more rewarding if those games also embodied the spirit of social causes.

HSBC Water Programme – Catch the Drop teamed up with Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology to further broaden the perspective on water issues by developing five digital games.

The interactive and fun games, which can be downloaded and played on both Windows and Mac operating systems, are another innovation by the campaign after first taking its messages to the entire primary school-going population, then the local councils, and eventually around the world with the launch of two international songs.

The games are Drip Drop, Filtro, Running Water, Summer is Com- ing, and Save the Drop. They are available for free at http://icaprojects.net/catch-the-drop/

While the games are pretty captivating in their simplicity and scoring, their storylines inspire the players to look at their usage of water in a new way.

In Filtro, for example, the neighbourhood aquarium is faced with a great problem: the water is extremely polluted and has become infested with germs and trash. It is now up to Filtro and his trusty shark companions to rid the water of these pollutants and return the aquarium to its former beauty. Filtro does this by riding sharks into the aquarium and collecting the trash and germs in his special containment tank.

“To really have an impact on social issues, we need to meet people where they spend their time and for thousands of us that’s online, on mobile or on consoles. We are thrilled with our collaboration with MCAST and are pleased to see the creativity of the Institute for the Creative Arts students in utilising digital mediums,” said Glenn Bugeja, co-ordinator HSBC Water Programme – Catch the Drop.

Meanwhile, the two water songs of the campaign can be discovered on many of the popular streaming services They can be searched as Water is Life (album) by HSBC Water Programme (artist) or by individual track titles, ‘Catch the Drop’ and ‘Water Life’. They are filed under Children’s music. The songs’ official music videos can be viewed on https://youtu.be/DB7D2bOSLgE (Catch the Drop) and https://youtu.be/ZjQcvEFbtVI (Water Life).