Couple from Acre creates game inspired by animals to encourage learning: 'Designed to be playful'

Couple from Acre creates game inspired by Brazilian fauna to stimulate learning ? Teaching in a playful way while stimulating logical reasoning. This is the mission of the game Olha o Bichim, created by public servant Risoleta Miranda and her husband, systems analyst Giuliano Cardoso. The game, available for smartphones, combines the mechanics of the classic 2048 with animals from the Brazilian fauna. The game's interface was developed by Giuliano, while Risoleta was responsible for choosing the animals and building the theme. Named "Olha o Bichim", the game is available for free for Android and iOS and can be played online and even offline. ? Join the g1 AC channel on WhatsApp Risoleta explains that the idea came about when her husband decided to develop a version of the 2048 puzzle and invited her to define the setting. The game is aimed at children, but, according to the co-creator, all age groups can have fun. "I thought about shaping the game's theme in a way that provides the pleasure of playing with the pleasure of learning. I always walk in Ipê Park, and I saw a child enchanted by seeing the capybaras, she said: 'look mom, the animal', that kept ringing in my head”, he explains. The game's interface was developed by Giuliano, while Risoleta was responsible for choosing the animals and building the theme Personal file MORE LAWS: Same-sex couple from Acre celebrates adoption of their son through voluntary delivery: 'Fills our days with love' Together for almost 7 years, couple creates business to surprise lovers in Acre Couple from AC adopts two sisters and remembers the family's transformation story: 'They who blessed us' The choice also took into account children's increasingly frequent contact with electronic devices. For Risoleta, although the excessive use of screens is a concern for parents and educators, the proposal was to think of an alternative for when the child is on their cell phone. "If we are going to use the screen, moderately or sparingly, it should be with something that stimulates areas that are of our culture and interest in preserving. The first choice, instinctively came: There has to be a capybara! The capybara is the queen of the moment!", he states. ? Mathematics and coordination The difference between the application created by Acreians and the game that inspired it is in the representation: the numbers are associated with animals. Risoleta highlights that the choice allows the dynamics to be understood even by children who do not master mathematics. Application brings species from biomes such as the Amazon and Pantanal, valuing the national fauna Reproduction "As I know that nowadays non-literate children also like to play games, so the animals were chosen to be the double aspect of the number on the board: those who know how to add, play by adding. Those who don't know how to add, play by uniting, putting together the same drawings", he says. In addition to mathematical reasoning, movements require precision. According to her, the sensitivity of the controls means that one wrong move could compromise the entire sequence of the match. Furthermore, dynamics also require planning. Endangered species Another criterion used in choosing the characters was the possibility of presenting animals that are not part of many children's daily lives. The manatee, for example, was included because it faces a risk of extinction and because it is a species that is rarely observed in person by children. With this, the platform seeks to awaken players' environmental awareness. "In our game, it [manatee] appears at a more advanced stage of the progression, as an animal considered even special. The maned wolf was also chosen because it is a species that is still somewhat unknown to the population, everything was well thought out to be playful", he points out. Possibilities of use In addition to the entertainment proposal, the creators began to realize possibilities for using the game in school activities. According to Risoleta, some teacher friends found out about the project, liked the proposal and started recommending it to students. In a mathematics class, for example, the teacher can use the game as an introduction to content such as geometric progression, potentiation and square root. "In biology, animals can serve as a starting point to discuss mammals, reptiles, amphibians and other classifications and in geography classes, students can be encouraged to identify which Brazilian biome each species belongs to", he adds. Risoleta also argues that the game can be a logical reasoning proposal, in which the challenge becomes finding strategies to advance on the board. “It all depends on the context and teaching”, he adds. VIDEOS: g1