Why a game?
Before Bullying Map, efforts to combat systematic bullying in schools relied on relevant but isolated initiatives. The absence of a digital tool capable of integrating these approaches into an experience accessible to the general public represented the main bottleneck for scaling these efforts.
In the case of bullying, the challenge involved two factors: bringing young people closer to a painful topic and, at the same time, providing a safe space for reflection and reporting. Digital games fulfill this function by creating a layer of mediation between the player and the content, allowing the symbolic confrontation of situations without directly exposing the individual.
The Pencil Labs impact report mentions the rediscovery of the power of a game to open dialogues about bullying. The playful experience can initiate conversations and promote reflection more naturally than purely discursive approaches, transforming a painful topic into a journey of empathy and care.
Gestalt and the "pedagogical Frankenstein"
Many traditional educational games fail due to the absence of a Gestalt perspective, treating knowledge as a sum of isolated parts. Mathematical formulas or vocabulary appear inserted into generic mechanics such as dominoes, memory games, and cards, without any concern for the structural similarity between the game and the content to be taught.
In these models, fun and learning move in opposite directions, generating a "pedagogical Frankenstein": a boring experience where the structure of the game does not converse with the structure of the content. Colmeia's design started from an opposite principle, seeking to fuse game mechanics and pedagogical intent into a coherent structure, where each phase, interaction, and player decision must make sense within the theme of bullying.
Additionally, the methodology sought to complement the experience by producing a set of materials within a larger ecosystem of care, listening, and learning. We cover this topic in more detail in another article on the Pencil Labs blog.
Core Drives in action
The Octalysis framework, developed by Yu-Kai Chou, organizes motivation techniques into eight major groups: Meaning, Accomplishment, Empowerment, Ownership, Social Influence, Scarcity, Unpredictability, and Avoidance. The book Design of Serious Games: Human Motivators with Pedagogical Intent, organized by Fragelli and Ruskowski and published by UnB in 2024, establishes the theoretical foundation for using these motivators aligned with learning theories such as behaviorism, cognitivism, and humanism.
Colmeia applied specific motivators in its construction:
- Meaning: real bullying stories formed the basis of the game's stages, giving weight and relevance to each interaction.
- Empowerment: the player takes action in the face of bullying, making decisions and observing consequences.
- Social Influence: the school community recognizes itself in the narrative, identifying behavior patterns among victims, aggressors, and bystanders.
- Avoidance: the fear of speaking about bullying becomes an obstacle that can be overcome through play, without exposing the player.
The selection of Core Drives guided the design of mechanics and narrative from the project's conception, surpassing the superficial approach of points and badges common in educational games. Direct collaboration with researchers and specialists such as Ricardo Fragelli and Tiago Barros in the game design process enabled the project to deliver an effective and engaging experience, integrating learning and care into a digital resource.
From methodology to mechanics
The 3T's Methodology grounds the action in Colmeia through three steps: Talk, Tell, and Tackle. Conversation, reporting, and confrontation structure the game's stages, and self-defense adds an element of embodied empowerment to the experience. The project used real bullying reports as the basis for the game's phases, increasing the relevance of the content and the player's connection with the narrative.
The transition from the name BullyingMap to Colmeia brought a central metaphor to the project. The hive represents a collective structure where individuals are fragile on their own, but the group is strong in unity. The game is configured as a journey of care with the goal of raising awareness and promoting a safer school environment.
What we learned
Designing a serious game about bullying requires more than good intentions. It requires academic references, validation with specialists, and testing with the target audience. Colmeia was born from the collaboration between Pencil Games, the University of Brasília, and the project's researchers, with the Gestalt structure, the Octalysis Core Drives, and the 3T's Methodology forming the methodological foundation. The result was more than 15,000 downloads and more than a thousand young people reached through the game.
