Shelter GO: Multiplayer Location-based Game for Learning Evacuation

Abstract

We evacuate to a shelter in the event of a disaster. Furthermore, we abandon the evacuation or wander toward an unknown shelter if we do not remember our shelter location. For successful evacuation, residents should not only remember shelter locations in their local community but also shelter capacities and features. By visiting and observing shelters in advance, residents can remember not only shelter locations and capacities but also shelter features. However, it is difficult to maintain the motivation to visit shelters. Additionally, residents should remember shelters within and outside their local community and acquire several shelter-related knowledge from other residents. Thus, we developed a prototype of a multiplayer location-based game (a geofencing mobile application) that adopts a game element similar to Pokémon GO. The game prototype prompts players to visit different local communities by making them expect encounters from other players and enhancing knowledge acquisition from encountered players.