CAN VIDEO GAMES REDUCE BULLYING?
That's the belief of Eqidz, a video game studio aiming to create games that help nurture the emotional skills of children worldwide.
Eqidz are now thrilled to announce the iOS release of its first game "Peppy Pals", available in the App Store on April 8th, 2014, and with Android, PC, and Mac versions to follow in the near future.
ABOUT PEPPY PALS
Peppy Pals is a fun 'point-and-click' game for children ages 2-6 about four young animal friends. With friendship and emotions in focus you play with them, help them out in various situations, or enjoy minigames. Peppy Pals has no text or language at all, and takes place on a cozy farmyard with a relaxed atmosphere, with much effort put into detailed animations and hand-drawn backgrounds. The game is intended to be the first of a series of "Peppy Pals" games.
Visit Peppy Pals at PeppyPals.com or watch the trailer for Peppy Pals here: http://youtu.be/AOl-zG6nyeY
Emotional Intelligence (EQ or EI) is about identifying, expressing, and controlling our emotions, and research suggests that higher emotional intelligence reduces the chance of being bullied or bullying others, among other benefits. Emotional Intelligence is working its way into schools worldwide, spearheaded by proved programs such as RULER and CASEL, and Peppy Pals aims to bring EQ to younger children in a fun way even before the first day of school. The game has been developed with the help of research, experts, and psychologists, and according to a worldwide market analysis by EEDAR (2013-02-21), the game concept is unique.
"Seeing emotions being expressed, especially in a 'cause-and-effect' relationship, is an important aspect of emotional intelligence, and is one way video games can help nurture empathy and emotional skills" says psychologist, EQ expert and author Bodil Wennberg.
ABOUT EQIDZ
Founded in 2011 by Rosie Linder, Eqidz focuses on combining emotional intelligence and entertainment in video games for children. The development team and now partners with Eqidz, is Talawa Games, who released the award-winning Unmechanical in 2012.
"As a parent I've never been fully satisfied with the children's games available, often reinforcing gender stereotypes and lacking any meaningful content. I just felt that video games could do more, and bringing more empathy to children's games is one way to do it” says Eqidz founder Rosie Linder.
Since the founding of Eqidz and development of Peppy Pals, they've received the following honors.
· Winner of Reach For Change 2014, a non-profit organization that chooses and hands out funds to people or companies that are groundbreaking in making the world a better place for children.
· Part of STING FastForward incubator. STING (Stockholm Innovation & Growth) is "kickstarting Stockholm's most promising internet ventures" with the help from coaches, experts, and more.
· Received Innovation Loan from Almi a Swedish VC-firm.
· Received grant from Vinnova, the Swedish Department for Innovation.
· Received grant from Hugo Stenbeck Foundation, a foundation that hands out grants to companies that betters the world for children.
Visit Eqidz at Eqidz.com
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