In the Fall of 2024, I decided to sign up for a virtual Designathon with a friend. A Designathon is like a hackathon, but for designers, and the intended outcome was some sort of Figma prototype. The theme of this competition was sustainability, and teams were supposed to create a product (usually an app or website) that would deliver some form of social and environmental good.

My friend and I sat down in a cafe to brainstorm because we felt like the world was at our fingertips, and we had 24 hours to make a viable product. Coming off of Unreal Fest, however, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to make a game, and ideally a game to educate young people about sustainability. We decided that I would do all of the art, and she would do all of the user research and put the design together. The outcome was a short, interactive game where the user (presumably a child from ages 6-8) would interact with spirits and learn how to create and care for their own gardens, emphasizing composting and sustainable living. The game was titled “Garden Guardians”, a nod to the spirits that were helping the children become garden guardians themselves.

It was exhausting. I worked practically all night, drawing all of the pieces myself, and using Unreal Engine Fortnite to put together a 3D background. After presenting our final product, I was so tired that I didn’t even want to even check the final scores. However, we won 3rd place out of the entire thing, and I got a computer mouse that I still use! As much life as this 24-hour sprint took out of me, it was incredibly rewarding and has served as inspiration for me to keep pursuing making games that are centered around social good.