CINCINNATI — D’Arcy Smith was at the Cincinnati Fire Museum with his kids when he got an idea for a new video game.
“There wasn’t a lot of stuff to engage with that was in their age range,” said Smith, a University of Cincinnati professor and director of the digital performance lab.
Smith said he wanted to create a game that would train kids on what to do in a fire.
That's how Fire Escape was born, an interactive computer video game that teaches people how to safely escape a house fire.
WATCH: How the game works, and how it hopes to save lives
Smith partnered with UC information technology student Tyler McCall, who focuses on video game design in his studies, to create the game.
McCall explained more about how the game works to us.
“The game will start, and you are in the house, and the smoke alarm is going off,” McCall said. “You’re quickly told that you need to escape the house, and that’s of course your objective.”
Fire Escape was made simple for any skill level, using only six keys and your mouse to play.
McCall, Smith and their team have tested the game with multiple groups. They've worked with UC’s Innovation Lab and the Cincinnati Fire Museum.
McCall and Smith collaborated with local firefighters to include interactive elements to teach players lessons.
McCall said kids may have the "natural instinct" to "hide or get their things," and that Fire Escape aims to teach them not to do so.
Both Smith and McCall said they hope that, at the very least, the game will start discussions about fire safety.
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“If we can, you know, save a life and have a little bit of fun at the same time, that’d be a great thing,” Smith said.
The game will soon be available at the Cincinnati Fire Museum, and the developers are in the process of expanding to other fire museums nationwide.
