We have all read about how hard the lockdown has been for the poor but playing the simple yet hard-hitting game Surviving COVID will let you walk in their shoes and really understand their plight. This game has been developed April 29, 2020 by Chennai-based XR Labs, a start-up known to leverage the power of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality to help MNCs and organisations like Hyundai, Apollo Tyres, Louvre Abu Dhabi (they are helping digitise the whole experience) and many more use the technology in a meaningful way. With that kind of knowledge in hand, the founders Srivatsan Jayasankar and Thirukumaran Saravanan wanted to meaningfully contribute to the current situation and help spread awareness in a much more experiential format. That's when XR Labs joined hands with Vedika Agarwal, the founder of the NGO Yein Udaan, to create this game.
"Every rupee matters when you are down to your last bit of savings, so prioritising your necessities, such as hand sanitiser versus food, becomes important for the needy," says Srivatsan who started his start-up in 2015, right after graduating from Anna University where he pursued Mechanical Engineering. Surviving COVID plays out in a simple multiple choice question format and choosing one option impacts three important aspects — money, risk of COVID-19 exposure and the number of days left. The questions become more complicated as the player progresses and they need to choose the best option as someone from the underprivileged section of society.
The data for the questions came from Vedika, who was aware of the ground reality, and the trio formed the questions and developed the game in ten days and decided to build it as a website to reach more people. "We wanted to get the fact across to the privileged section of society that we should cherish and embrace all that we have during these difficult times," says the youngster. Once you reach the end of the game, you have the choice to donate to Yein Udaan to aid them in their efforts to help the poor fight COVID-19.
A few screenshots from the game
To play the game, check out covid.xrlabs.cloud/home
