Educational game raises awareness among young people about measures to combat dengue fever

Game challenges the player to find and eliminate all Aedes aegypti mosquito hotspots.

Agência FAPESP* – Faced with the growing number of dengue cases recorded in Brazil in early 2024, the virtual games portal Ludo Educativo is relaunching the game Contra a Dengue 3 – No Mundo Digital (which translates in English as “Against Dengue 3 – In the Digital World”) whose goal is to help raise awareness about measures to combat the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

In this game, which is part of the Contra a Dengue series, the fearless protagonist, Sophia, enters the digital world with her older siblings, Renata and Rômulo. In the adventure, the player will fight not only dengue but also the chikungunya and zika viruses, all transmitted by the Aedes mosquito.

To succeed in her quest, Sophia must find and eliminate all the dengue hotspots, the most efficient way to combat the mosquito. Throughout her journey, the little girl will be helped by her older siblings to cover old tires, store garbage properly, and put sand in plant pots. During the journey, the configuration of the game changes with each new visit to the digital world, guaranteeing the player a challenge that is constantly renewed, allowing for varied challenges and hours of educational entertainment. The game can be accessed through the following link: portal.ludoeducativo.com.br/pt/play/contra-dengue-3.

About Ludo Educativo

Ludo Educativo is a university extension project that develops educational games and makes them available for free on the Internet. The games deal with a variety of topics that are present in the daily lives of children and teenagers, such as water scarcity, preserving the environment, and preparing for university entrance exams.

This is one of the dissemination projects of the Center for the Development of Functional Materials (CDMF), a FAPESP Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center (RIDC) based at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), carried out in partnership with Aptor Software, a CDMF spin-off.

“To combat dengue fever, it’s essential to educate the population at all levels. The game teaches in a fun way how to prevent the spread of the mosquito. In this way, the CDMF is actively participating in the campaign against dengue,” Elson Longo, professor at UFSCar and coordinator of CEPID, told Agência FAPESP.

Contra a Dengue 3 – No Mundo Digital is one of the 80 games developed since the start of the project. Currently, around 50 are available to the public. The older ones are currently being adapted to be compatible with current browsers. The games are organized by grade/year. There are also activities for painting and drawing, as well as Ludo Escola – an area where teachers can organize courses by classroom and monitor students’ progress by creating online assessments.

* With information from the CDMF.