Polinizapp

Polinizapp is an educational game offered by the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid and the IMEDEA (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies) and funded by the FECYT. The game simulates the pollination process of flowers in nature. The player becomes a pollinating insect with two objectives: to get life and to accumulate points. Life is produced by contact with the flowers, since they have pollen and nectar, sources of their food. Life becomes playing time. Points are earned only by contact with flowers belonging to their "target species". To generate 1 point, the insect has to contact at least 2 target flowers of the same species. At the end of the game, these points will become seeds, since the fertilization of the gametes of the plant will have been performed in the process. When the player downloads the app, the honey bee is the only choice for playing. The other pollinating insects are locked and then will be unlocked as the player earns points (seeds) and food units. The player can choose among different game scenarios, where there will be different availability of food and other threats that the player will have to solve. These threats can weaken the player and even cause the death and the end of the game. The pollination in nature works in this way. It is generally an "exchange of favors" between both the animal and plant worlds, "you give me food, and I'll help you with reproduction". But in this process, the protagonists are subject to different threats. Play, enjoy, and learn about pollination, a vital process for the plant biodiversity of our planet and for our own survival.