Downpour! – Flood risk communication through interactive immersive street games

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the potential role of immersive interactive games in public engagement with environmental science, in this case flood risk management. Recent high magnitude storm events in the UK have fuelled great public interest in flooding. However, there remains an apparent mismatch between the scientific voice of flooding research and the wider public discourse, which we argue games may be able to address. Downpour! is a street game that casts players as flood risk advisers in a fictional flooding scenario. Players work in teams to respond to an immediate crisis and make longer-term decisions about mitigation through a series of encounters with actors, films, puzzles and treasure hunts. The game was created by a street game designer in collaboration with film-makers, environmental scientists and public institutions, with performances at the Manchester Science Festival and the Festival of Social Science 2016. Based on observations and responses from these events, we discuss how the game fostered understanding of, and engagement with, decision-making in flood risk management. Games offer people the agency to experiment with decisions in a safe space. As a result, we found that players begin to independently interrogate both scientific and political dimensions of flood management. The immersive nature of a street game further creates an emotional connection with the issues, which has the potential for triggering active involvement in flood-related efforts. We conclude by reflecting on the process behind the game creation, commenting on the strengths and difficulties of innovative collaborations between environmental scientists and creative practitioners.

Serious gaming in flood risk management

“…Further actors included local government (e.g., councils and municipalities), policymakers and mayors (Taillandier & Adam, 2018; Tanwattana & Toyoda, 2018; Tsai, Chang, et al, 2015), water authorities and managers (Magnuszewski et al, 2018; Stefanska et al, 2011; Valkering et al, 2013), and first responders (Terti et al, 2019; Tomaszewski et al, 2020). In some cases, moderators took on roles such as central government (Magnuszewski et al, 2018), city managers (Nunnally et al, 1974) and actors such as mayors, journalists, lobbyists, buskers, and weathermen that then influenced the game conditions (Barends, 2001; Wendler & Shuttleworth, 2019). Furthermore, the growing role of citizens and civil society was recognized in the games with players acting as community leaders, volunteers or voluntary organizations, tax‐payers, homeowners in flood‐risk areas (Nunnally et al, 1974; Tanwattana & Toyoda, 2018; Tomaszewski et al, 2020), local environmental activists and farmers (Magnuszewski et al, 2018; Nunnally et al, 1974; Stefanska et al, 2011).…”

“…Many of the reviewed games used in‐game observations including a qualitative “thinking aloud” method whereby players were asked to verbally describe their thoughts and experiences during gameplay (Tomaszewski et al, 2020), the creative use of game characters (played by facilitators) to encourage in‐game reflections of their experiences (Wendler & Shuttleworth, 2019), as well as recorded self‐directed learning sessions (Tsai, Chang, et al, 2015). These observations were also captured by recording the player's computer screen, mouse tracks, voices and facial expressions (Tsai, Wen, et al, 2015) and another using GoPro cameras to record players' movements (Mannsverk et al, 2014).…”

“…Students included university students both studying FRM or a disaster‐based subject as well as those with no previous experiences of water management (10) as well as elementary and high school students (4). Citizens included those who were specifically affected by the problem (9), such as farmers, residents and local community representatives, as well as including a general audience (5) identified through online recruitment, and in cafés (Gordon & Yiannakoulias, 2020; Yiannakoulias et al, 2020) and public events (Wendler & Shuttleworth, 2019). There were seven different games that involved “relevant professionals” who worked as technical experts, modelers, operational forecasters and hydrologists.…”

“…The games were developed with the overall rationale of engaging players in the topic of FRM as well as to create curiosity and awareness of flooding (Ramos et al, 2013; Wendler & Shuttleworth, 2019). The reviewed papers highlighted the positive effects of using serious gaming approaches in FRM especially the interactive nature of gaming.…”

Tailoring Content for Authenticity and Adoption: Community-Based Participatory Research and the Co-creation of Story-Based Health Communication for Underserved Communities

“…When playing a game, participants have the ability to try out different scenarios and decisions without real-world consequences and the opportunity to begin again, each time with new information and perspective. This layering of information and experience can foster selfidentification with the scenarios and issues of the game providing a deeper level of engagement and involvement (Wendler and Shuttleworth, 2019). The Cho!ces game was created (and named) by youth and is also based on scenarios drawn from community stories created by community participants that represent the target audience of the game.…”