The NHTSA is well known for sending positive messages about the consequences of what can happen when you drive recklessly, or endanger the lives of others through drunk driving. With the Fourth of July hitting tomorrow, there’s no better time than the present to send out these messages to remind drivers that even buzzed driving can be extremely dangerous.
According to NHTSA, July 4th is one of the deadliest times on the roads. From 2007 to 2011, 40 percent of all fatalities in motor vehicle traffic crashes around the July 4th holiday involved a drunk driver. “Buzzed” drivers who have “only a few” drinks often do not consider themselves a hazard on the roads. But they can rack up $10,000 in fines, legal fees and increased insurance rates if they get pulled over. Or, worse, they can produce tragic consequences.
On their Facebook page, the NHTSA boasts their new game in conjunction with the Ad Council, Buzzed. Busted. Broke., which adds a twist to your typical card-matching game. You know, the one you played when you were a kid–you flip over the cards until you find two identical cards. The basic mechanic of the game is supposed to help boost short term memory and visual coordination.
We agree wholeheartedly that driving under the influence is a big issue, and that games are well-positioned to expose people to that information in an entertaining format that aids processing of a message that one’s brain usually wants to avoid. Thinking about car accidents and fines usually ranks somewhere on the list alongside wills, life insurance, and other unpleasant subjects we often find it convienent to ignore until it’s too late.
So a game is an entertaining way to help get an important message across. Buzzed driving dangers are definitely prime for this delivery format. There’s just one problem:
This game is an unappealing format for adults and doesn’t deliver on the intended message.
Aside from some of the strange stock images that the NHTSA chose to use, the message is easily understood, but… honestly, it’s not very well delivered. Let’s be real here–the target audience is going to be generally above the age of 17. Card matching isn’t very mentally stimulating, nor does it have any lasting value with adults.
Harsh review? Maybe. But they’ve tackled a serious subject, and we think there’s definitely room to do something powerful here. There are several different approaches that they could have taken in creating a powerful message that would have a longterm affect on their audience. For example…
Hijack Candy Crush for a day
I’m not kidding. The NHTSA could have contacted King and asked to hijack Candy Crush for a day, sending the message to millions upon millions of people who may be out partying tonight and tomorrow. Make little cars out of the icons, or little beer cans–anything like that. The number of adults playing this game is astounding.
Even if King hadn’t gone along with it, puzzle games like Candy Crush are what the mobile and Facebook gaming market really like to see.
Not a fan of puzzlers like Candy Crush? Okay, let’s try another card game, like…
Blackjack
Sticking with the card theme, play a regular game of Blackjack (trying to hit a sum of 21 with a standard 52 card deck without exceeding 21). For the sake of the game, there don’t have to be 21 cards, but the idea could be to give consequences a numeric value that players can now use to try and get to 21.
For example, one designated driver is like playing a King (10 points). Being a designated driver is worth an Ace (11 points). There are a variety of different ways to add numeric values to decisions made by drivers–and Blackjack is one of the most played and widely known card games in the world.
Roulette
And not the Russian variety. Say the ball is a driver who makes the decision to have a drink. Every odd number is a legal consequence, and every black number represents a driver who gets hurt as a result of the player’s decision to drive drunk. The chances of getting home without hitting anyone or getting arrested are then fairly realistic (about a 25% chance, give or take).
Again, the variety in which they could have designed are endless. However, this game is another that adults easily recognize and one that is fairly simple to understand and develop. It doesn’t have to have all the bells and whistles for a simple Facebook game.
Good idea, but needs more game design to drive the point home
While we appreciate and support the message that the NHTSA is trying to send, and we applaud the selection of a tough, valuable topic with real life applications, but ultimately Buzzed. Busted. Broke. left us wanting more impactful gameplay to make a wider audience receptive to the critical message the game intended to send.
Published: Jul 3, 2013 02:37 pm