Waste management

This was, without a doubt, one of the projects I enjoyed the most. Although at Ludus we usually work with serious games focused on training, this time the challenge was to create an experience closer to a traditional video game while still maintaining the educational goal: teaching users how to recycle in a simple, engaging, and memorable way.

The main challenge was finding the right balance between learning and entertainment. We did not want to create just an informative activity, but rather an experience where users could learn almost naturally while playing. It also needed to maintain visual and narrative consistency with the rest of the simulations on the platform.

After exploring different ideas, we developed a mini-game based on a conveyor belt where users had to sort different types of waste into the correct containers. To increase the difficulty and maintain engagement, the belt speed gradually increased, requiring users to make faster and more accurate decisions over time.

The experience was built around a simple mechanic: recycle as many objects as possible before making three mistakes. This introduced a challenge and a sense of personal improvement, allowing learning to happen through practice and repetition.

During development, we focused especially on interaction clarity, quick information recognition, and the feeling of progression. The goal was for any user to understand the rules within seconds and start playing without needing complex instructions.

The result was an experience that combined knowledge, coordination, and reflexes, transforming educational content into a dynamic and engaging activity. We also saw that the mechanic achieved its purpose when a friendly competition started naturally within the company to achieve the highest score and appear at the top of the leaderboard. This spontaneous competition showed that the experience was not only easy to understand, but also motivated users to replay it and improve their results.

This project allowed me to continue exploring how game design and interaction mechanics can be used as tools to increase engagement and turn learning into a more memorable experience.