Pledge Planets
Messenger Kids Safety Game
At Messenger Kids, it’s our mission to empower kids to safely connect with friends and family.
For our young audience (6-12), Messenger Kids may be their first messaging app. We want to help them build digital literacy, learn about online safety, and the security, privacy, and safety features available to them.
When we onboard new users onto the app, they have to “pledge” to be kind, respectful, safe, and have fun.
This is just the beginning.
How can we further help kids navigate the digital world well through a fun and engaging experience?
A pitch for a safety game
It was on our roadmap to create a safety game based on the Pledge.
What if kids could explore each Pledge through a unique, planet, story, and character?
Rather than schooling kids on safety, the idea is for kids to learn by actively helping other characters embody kindness, respect, and safety through mini games.
And space could be a metaphor for a digital world. There’s a lot to explore!
Kids are invited on a mission from Space Cat to travel to new planets and help their friends.
Click to advance the slide.
And it came to life!
I worked on the original pitch, concept, and visual development of Pledge Planets.
This game was a big collaborative effort in the Messenger Kids team with game designers, illustrators, animators, and technical artists.
In production, I worked on art direction of the space world, plantets, and the game UX.
Messenger Kids Safety Game
Pledge Planets is a safety game to help kids learn how to make healthy online decisions, stay safe, and build resilience to better shape what could be their first messaging experience.
Kids will explore different planets based on the Pledge — Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Have Fun.