Google’s Interland – An Online Game on How to be “Internet Awesome”
Last month, Google launched a new project – “Be Internet Awesome” which encourages digital safety, includes tools and resources for children, parents and teachers. As part of this programme, there is a delightful web-based game called Interland, designed to teach the fundamentals of internet safety to children. Interland is a journey where kids will “embark on a quest to deny hackers, sink phishers, one-up cyberbullies, outsmart oversharers and become a confident explorer online.”
We were hooked on to this adventure-packed game which is an imaginary world of four lands and gives valuable learnings from time to time and at the end of each level. It is a wonderfully designed resource where you are prompted to practice skills needed to be good digital citizens.
Interland is divided into four mini-games. First of which is the “Kind Kingdom”. Kind Kingdom is set in a place where cyberbullies are spreading negativity everywhere. You are required to block and report bullies to stop their takeover and be kind to other Internauts. In the journey you will come across Internauts who are sad and crying and you are required to spread kindness by giving them ‘hearts’ or ‘little love’. There are 3 achievements in Kind Kingdom and once you have spread enough kindness and blocked bullies you conquer the kingdom and become “Internet Kind”. Learnings from this game –
∗ Positive Influence – Use the amplifying power of the internet to spread positivity
∗ Bully Blocker – Block mean-spirited or inappropriate behaviors
Next game is “Reality River”. Reality River is filled with fact and fiction. You are required to cross the rapids by using the best judgment (answering questions) and avoiding the antics of the phisher.
Each question comes with three options. Here are some of the questions which we were asked –
- A Phisher is?
- You get an email with an attachment from a cousin you literally never hear from that says: “You won’t believe this”. What do you do?
- Some friends want to prank the biggest jokester in your group by creating a fake chat account and pretending to be them. What’s the best thing to do?
There are in all 10 questions. With each right answer you move one step forward towards crossing the rapids. There are 3 achievements in Reality River and once you have crossed the rapids, you become “Internet Alert”. Learnings from this game –
∗ Phisher Dismisser – Understand phishing and how to report it
∗ Scam Slammer – Spot the signs of a potential scam
∗ Truth Sleuth – Know how to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s fake
Next game is “Mindful Mountain”. It is a place where “everyone mingles and crosses paths. But you must be very intentional about what you share and with whom.” You are given scenarios and information and are required to bounce off each detail/post/information to get it to the right Internaut. Scenarios include –
- Meetup details about the school dance. Share this post with Friends.
- X-ray of your broken bone. Share this post with Family.
- The password to your email account. Share this post to the lock box.
After you successfully share the information, there is a brief explanation on why it was the right thing to do.
There are 3 achievements in this game covering ten posts. Once you earn all 3 achievements, you become “Internet Smart”. Learnings from this game –
∗ Savvy Sharer – Thoughtfully consider what you share and with whom
∗ Patient Poster – Pause and keep extra sensitive information to yourself
∗ Informed Internaut – Understand the power and consequences that come along with sharing
The last game is the “Tower of Treasure”. “The town tower is unlocked, leaving the Internaut’s valuables at high risk.” You are required to build an untouchable password by collecting blocks of letters in lowercase, uppercase and finally blocks of numbers and symbols while navigating safely across the landscape.
Once you unlock all 3 achievements and gather the required blocks, you build a password with a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols, which denies access to the hacker and makes you “Internet Strong”. Learnings from this game –
∗ Captain Clever – Craft a password you’ll remember
∗ Data Defender – Make your password at least 8 characters long
∗ Password Wizard – Create an awesome password with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols
After you have played all the games, your score for each one of them is displayed with options to explore learnings from each ‘land’ and a button to download a ‘certificate of awesomeness’.
Interland is a wonderful attempt by Google to teach kids how to make smart decisions online. With so much negativity and trolling on social media and forums, not just kids but many grown-ups too can learn the lesson of how to be “internet kind”, “internet smart”, “internet strong”, “internet brave” and “internet alert”.
