23 Feb Aquatico: A Board Game to Inspire People to Care About the Environment

Bringing fun into environmental education is the goal of Aquatico, a unique board game that was launched on February 23, 2018 at CTC’s Center for Marine Conservation in Sanur, Bali.

Aquatico aims to tackle key concepts such as the interconnectedness amongst ecosystems and the value of working together to protect the environment and make these concepts understandable to varied audiences.

“The more ways we can weave marine education into daily lives and in fun and play, the more people will understand at a deeper level that we are all connected by one ocean and have a duty to protect it,” says Coral Triangle Center (CTC) Executive Director Rili Djohani. “Aquatico also helps us reach more people and inspire them to care about our environment for people and planet.”

This innovative approach to raise awareness was developed by the CTC in collaboration with Bandung-based game studios Kummara and Manikmaya, which are focused on “games for change.”

Over 40 people took part of the action and had the chance to play the game. Eko Nugroho, CEO of Kummara shared his story and why he believes games are a powerful media that bring positive impact for society. He said “our hope is that we can bring Aquatico to every home in Indonesia and even all over the world, so every family can deliver a little bit of motivation to our younger generation to help save the environment together”.

Aquatico is an adaptation of Ridges to Reefs concept where players learn the value of the inter-connectivity of ecosystems and understand that in order to save one, they have to save all. It features at least seven of the largest types of aquatic ecosystems that are spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago such as the deep sea, the river, seagrass, wetlands, mangroves, and coral reefs.

This game also incorporates eight charismatic marine animals that live the these habitats such as, the Milky Stork, the Clown Fish, the Blue Whale, the Proboscis Monkey, the Pora-pora Fish, the Sea Cow, the Irawaddy Dolphin, and the Sunfish. These elements make up the main component of this game.

Aquatico is designed by Brendan Satria and illustrated by Rezza Rainaldy in collaboration with CTC’s experts on marine ecosystems. This game was designed to be easy to understand and could be useful for school children and fun to play for the entire family. It is also used in CTC’s training programs.

Aquatico has been introduced at Essen SPIEL 2017, the flagship event of the board game industry that was held at Essen, Germany last October 2017. The debut of Aquatico at the international forum was received with a warm welcome from visitors around the world that attended the Essen SPIEL 2017.

“We hope to always be able to explore Indonesia’s treasures through the medium of games in order to be easily accessible and well-liked among people of all ages,” said Andre Dubari, Manikmaya Games’s Business Manager and Indonesia’s contingent coordinator at Essen SPIEL 2017.

Aquatico is now available for sale online at Tokopedia, Bukalapak and at CTC’s office in Sanur, Bali. All proceeds support marine conservation activities in Indonesia and the Coral Triangle.