NanoMission
A serious game series teaching nanomedicine concepts.
NanoMission is a series of serious games developed by PlayGen for the Wellcome Trust and FEI, focusing on nanomedicine education. The series consists of four downloadable modules that cover various nanotechnology concepts, with gameplay that varies significantly across modules.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- PlayGen
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
Facts from the source article.
Research and development
A board of four scientists oversees the development of NanoMission to ensure the game remains fact-based. The science board includes Mark Welland FRS, FREng, Professor of Nanotechnology and Director of the IRC in Nanotechnology at the University of Cambridge; Richard Jones FRS, Professor of Physics at the University of Sheffield; Kostas Kostarelos FRSM, Chair of Nanomedicine at the School of Pharmacy, University of London; and Wolfgang Luther, head of nanotechnologies at VDI The Association of German Engineers. An educational advisory board is being formed to help teachers integrate NanoMission into curricula. Meanwhile, organizations such as the Association for Science Education (ASE), SEMTA, SETNET, and SCENTA are assisting in developing NanoMission as an educational aide.
Modules
NanoMission consists of several downloadable games that run independently, with no required order of play. Each module covers different nanotechnology topics. In one module, the player guides a nanorobot to destroy cancer inside a patient, using carrying cases disguised as natural cellular objects like vesicles to hold medicines. The player chooses from three nanorobots with varying speed, strength, and stealth stats. This module plays like a flight simulation or combat game inside the body, dodging blood cells and platelets while attacking cancer cells. Another module casts the player as a scientist designing a vesicle to treat lung cancer. Using a drag-and-drop interface, the player adjusts strength, speed, and stealth stats and introduces a key mechanic to match medicine to cancer type. After design, the vesicle is injected, and the player observes its effects on the lungs at multiple scales, from cellular to full-scale with airflow and blood flow. The player then controls the vesicle to find and destroy cancer, and success reduces the cancer's health meter and cures the patient.
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