With the support of the Nippon Foundation, we will be working with Kids Star Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shibuya Ward, and Kracie Co., Ltd., to provide children in Shibuya Ward with a project called ``Future Library,'' a third place for children. We co-created and held a workshop for ``Gokkko Land'' game creation experience on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
Workshop overview
This workshop was held at the "Future Library," a community support project that aims to increase interest in the future, empathy, and the ability to survive, for children living in Shibuya Ward, and more than 20 children participated. participated and experienced a test play of the game (hereinafter referred to as the "child test").
1. Child test explanation
When a game is released, a play test is performed to verify bugs and difficulty adjustments.
At Kids Star, in order to incorporate children's unique perspectives and opinions, we have children test play our games instead of adults, and we create games that are thoroughly focused on children's perspectives. I explained to the children that this is an important job.
2. Introduction of educational confectioneryⓇ by “Kracie”
Kracie introduced the appeal of educational sweetsⓇ, which are not just delicious sweets, using product photos such as "Neruneru Nerune", which is very popular among children. Chiiku ConfectioneryⓇ was rebranded in 2021 as ``Confectionery that fosters children's self-esteem,'' offering three values: developing individuality, enjoying failure, and respecting differences. As the children began to explain, they approached the photo and the test began amidst loud cheers, saying things like, ``I've made this before, I love it!''
3. Child test experience
We conducted a children's test experience for Kracie's ``Popin' Cookin' Let's Make Sweets,'' which will be released in ``Gokko Land'' on March 12th (Tuesday). Divide into groups of two, one person plays the game, and the other person looks at the hands and expressions of the children playing the game and asks, ``Are there any areas where the child is confused about the controls?'' ``Does the child look like he or she is having fun?'' Record a report on paper, such as ``What kind of words are they saying?'' This record will be used to develop better games.
The event lasted for about an hour, and during the question corner, participants asked questions such as, ``Why did you decide to make Educational SweetsⓇ?'', ``How many sweets can you make in a day?'', and ``How did you come up with the idea for the game?'' Are you there?” Hands were raised one after another. At the end, the children were very happy to receive the actual ``Popin' Cookin''' game they played as a souvenir.
Mr. Yanagawa from the Kids Star sales team who participated said, ``Through Gokko Land, we want to foster children's interest and curiosity about the society and products around them. I was so happy that they were so excited and enjoyed the Popon' Cookin' experience! ”, he expressed his thoughts.
Also, during the Q&A session, questions such as ``Why did you decide to make educational sweets?'', ``How many sweets can you make in a day?'', and ``How do you come up with ideas for games?'' were asked one after another. Hands went up, and the people in charge of Poppin' Cooking's development and others answered a lot of questions, even though they were surprised. This time, we conducted an in-app experience, but we received feedback that through communication with the children, we were able to receive a lot of first-hand feedback that can be used in actual product development.
About the social experience app for children “Gokko Land”
``Gokko Land'', developed and provided by Kids Star, is a free social experience app that allows children to interactively learn about ``the workings of society'' through the ``pretend play'' that children love. Approximately one-third of the users are of the child-rearing generation (families).
At Gokko Land, we are opening a pavilion with experiential content developed in line with the products and services of our sponsoring companies. As of February 2024, the cumulative number of downloads has exceeded 6 million, and more than 70 companies and organizations representing various industries have opened stores and are using it as a new branding and marketing method for the child-rearing generation. Successful examples of companies that have sponsored or opened stores have seen the positive effects of brand lift, such as significant increases in brand recognition, first recall rate, and trust.
https://www.kidsstar.co.jp/gokkoland
About Kids Star Co., Ltd.
Kids Star Co., Ltd. offers a variety of educational and educational products as part of its efforts to create products that create experiences that children can immerse themselves in, including Gokkoland, a free social experience app that allows children to enjoy learning about the workings of society through games. Apps and media that parents and children can enjoy together “Gokkoland Times” https://gokkoland.com)' is provided.
https://www.kidsstar.co.jp
Kracie Co., Ltd.
Address: Yokoso Rainbow Tower, 3-20-20 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8080
Representative: Masahiro Iwakura, Representative Director, President and Executive Officer
Business details:
(1) Toiletries and cosmetics business (manufacture and sale of toiletries and cosmetics, etc.)
(2) Pharmaceutical business (manufacture and sale of ethical drugs and over-the-counter drugs, mainly Chinese herbal medicine)
(3) Food business (manufacture and sale of confectionery, ice cream, new foods, etc.), etc.
https://www.kracie.co.jp/
What is the base of “Children’s Third Place: Future Library”?
"Future Library" is a community model where children can be their third place.In addition to homework support, the Mirai Library offers creative programs using various digital tools, social education from an SDGs perspective, experiments, and hands-on experiences, mainly for elementary school students. This is a community support project that provides learning programs and aims to increase interest in the future, empathy, and the ability to survive.
https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/what/projects/child-third-place
