Get Water!

Get Water! is the first mobile game developed by Decode Global launched on March 22, 2013 for World Water Day. Get Water! is a story-driven, gesture controlled, endless runner-game for mobile touch screen devices. The social impact game tells an engaging tale about the protagonist Maya, a brave young teenage girl who gets pulled out of school to fetch clean water for her family. The purpose of Get Water! is to raise awareness of water scarcity and how it directly affects girls’ education. The player’s role is to help Maya in her task, by guiding her through a 2D world full of obstacles. The player controls Maya’s movements by drawing a line under her feet on which she can surf, while tapping the screen releases her boomerang to fend off peacocks that try to break her water pot. As the player passes through stages of the game, he unlocks new chapters in Maya’s story, and acquire new skills and supplies to make her task faster and easier.

“Through presenting a brave, female protagonist in the game, Get Water! is promoting gender equality by breaking down traditional gender roles found in video games. Female characters in most video games have no voice, and are often portrayed as weak, or in need of rescue by the male hero. The gender gap in video games has grown so wide that an informal economy has emerged, whereby technologically savvy players are hacking their favourite games to turn their protagonists into female characters. Having a young, confident, teenage girl as the lead character is breaking the industry norm, and giving hope to young girls who love to play games as much as their male peers.” (Tuuli Saarinen)