Speeding up medical research with puzzle fanatics as co-researchers
Unmask is a puzzle game where players provide real, valuable research data, as they attempt to crack the codes that perplex cancer research.
By turning the research challenge into a literal game, Unmask creates an easy and fun incentive for players to get involved in citizen science.
How does a puzzle game provide data for medical research?
Lymphoma studies are on the search for the binding places of microRNA to messenger RNA, important players in the development of healthy cells.
Computer algorithms have failed to reliably predict all possible binding places.
People are simply better puzzle-solvers: better equipped to recognise patterns and think creatively.
And people love to play, making a game the perfect way to motivate citizen scientists to get involved.
Unmask in action
7700+
citizen scientists collecting data
30.000+
research submissions
± 8 min
playtime per player
The steps to developing
a medical research game
Bringing together the team
The workgroup consists of 6-8 participants of the most important stakeholders.
This means the project team, the end users and, potentially, externals such as ethicists and healthcare professionals.
Game Ready Workshop
Together with the team of stakeholders, we
- define our goals and design criteria
- come up with ideas
- draft the first prototype
in a day-long creative workshop.
Development & testing
A prototype becomes a MVP, shaped by choices made with the whole team.
Development is an iterative process: we build, test and apply our learnings to the next round.
Implementation
The finished product is implemented and ready for use.
We provide training to ensure long-term use and enjoyment of the product.
More information
