Discover biodiversity — explore biodiversity: The new Citizen Science Game for the Natural History Museum NHM in Vienna, Austria

While we made our preparations for the European Citizen Science Association ECSA conference in Vienna, we had another task on our to-do list: let's make a game for the public day in the museum! But it is not any kind of game, it is the (probably) the largest computer game in Austria! In the Natural History Museum in Vienna, there is the "Deck 50", which is a science communication room that features not only a lab, interactive installations and more, but also an 11-meter-long LED wall. A perfect format for a platformer game! We have used the professional Unreal Engine 5 for creating a platformer that allows up to 4 players to explore a level and find a range of biodiversity cards. These cards represent a range of species that are occurring in the selected biome of the level. Speaking of biomes, at the start of the game, players can choose from 3 different habitats: the Forest, the Alps or the City.

Using controllers, the players can jump and run in the level and discover plants and animal species, that are native to the level's habitat. The cards additionally communicate information about the species, like whether it is endangered or an invasive species. There is also room for a sentence of two for each species, for which the Natural History Museum Vienna currently has a co-creation process. Players can switch their characters on the fly to various animal species, and even a dinosaur. Each character has different speeds and jump abilities, and some can even carry another player on their head! The game was a huge success on the open ECSA conference day in the museum. People of all ages shared controllers among the crowd, collecting species cards together.

 A Citizen Science themed game for everyone visiting the Museum's Science Communication room!

This cooperative experience brings people together while playing the platformer. The "Vielfalt entdecken" game is now an additional digital asset for science communication in the museum, that can be played by visitors, school classes, or event participants. During regular presentations in deck 50, a science communicator from the NHM Science Communication team can furthermore tell the people more about each species found and their lives in their habitat. And there are many, we have included over 150 species with common names, scientific names and pictures, from which a random selection can be found in each play through of a level.

A video from the Opening Day during the European Citizen Science Conference 2024!

At SPOTTERON, we had much fun in creating something unique for the museum. Even if the involved learning curve was steep and developing our first official multiplayer game had its multitude of challenges, it is spectacular to see it live on the 11-meter LED wall and watch youngsters and grown-ups alike enjoy the experience. In the future, we are hoping to extend the "Vielfalt entdecken" platformer game with more biomes, species cards and new levels. Stay tuned for news and updates, and if you are in Vienna at some day, make sure to visit the Natural History Museum NHM and the Deck50 science communication room!