Acme Nerd Games, LLC located in south central Wisconsin, USA is a new start-up game company on a mission – a space and spinach mission. They are creating a game focused on nutrition literacy for kids [and their parents] called “Houston, We Have Spinach! The game design team brings a wealth of talent to this project, including Clinical Playground, LLC founder and managing member Dr. Eric B. Bauman. Other nerds, team members include, Mary Romolino, Bo Monroe, Michael Flaherty and newest member of the team, Tarah Heimes. The team recently held launch party to support the “Houston, We Have Spinach!” project in Madison, WI.
“Houston, We Have Spinach!” provides an innovative approach to what many clinicians would consider patient education. Instead of simply counseling parents and their kids about the importance of a healthy diet, “Houston, We Have Spinach” engages kids through play. Play is a powerful learning experience. It is experiential, engaging, rewarding and in this case downright fun. Games have the power to engage people, patients, players by way of intrinsic motivation. Most people engage a game because it looks fun – good games move beyond badges and high scores and promote a sense of agency. Players enjoy good games because they find meaning in the during game-play or as a result of playing the game Educational games when done well provide the impetus for behavioral change. In this game, players start out with the intention to build rockets and unlock mini-games and Easter Eggs within the game platform – But along the way they are learning valuable lessons about nutritional choices they can make in their everyday lives. Choices they can make in the real world.
Acme Nerd Games, LLC currently has a Kickstarter campaign going on to fund “Houston, We Have Spinach!” and they are starting to get noticed. This campaign has been featured by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a German news forum. At the time of this post they had just broken the 100 donor mark – but they can still use support to make their goal and bring “Houston, We Have Spinach” to life and the masses.
Houston, We Have Spinach! Kickstarter Link
