Nickelodeon's Big Green Help Free Online Multiplayer Game Launch

Nickelodeon launched a new free online multi-player game titled Big Green Help on Sunday, December 14, 2008. The purpose of the game is to raise ecological awareness in children. The game is part of Nickelodeon's Big Green Help initiative that also includes various Nickelodeon/Nick Jr characters in games and printables about ecological awareness.

The Nickelodeon website for the game explains that it is comprised of four themes consisting of Grow the Green, Recycle/Precycle, Slow the Flow, and Curb the Car.

About the Game

Big Green Help players get rid of environmentally harmful 'monsters' in order to clean up the environment. It's a basic 'aim-and-shoot' game that requires very little skill but does present increasing levels of challenge. It is important for teams to work together in Big Green Help, though individuals may achieve high scores.

Big Green Help must be downloaded and installed from the minisites/biggreen section of nick.com. Once installed, players may access the game from the Big Green Help icon on their computer desktop.

Players choose from a selection of four Nickelodeon characters. The choices are SpongeBob SquarePants, Aang, Otis, and Timmy (Turner). Big Green Help is accessible internationally, which can cause server issues. If a high number of people are trying to play it once; it may take several attempts or a long wait to get into the game.

Once in the game, two players work together to clean up their surroundings by shooting the environmental monsters. The lineup of monsters includes CO2 monsters, Sludge Slugs, Carbon Creepers, Waster Whirlwinds, and Toxic Overlords.

Raising Ecological and Social Consciousness in Kids

The only ecological and social conscious raising aspects of Big Green Help come in the form of environmental hazard monsters to be destroyed. The real education about ecological awareness is not in the game, which is more of a fun time-waster, but in the companion section of Nick Jr that features parenting helps, family activities, and printables.

Age Range Accessibility

Any young child that knows how to play online games with a mouse or the arrow keys will be able to successfully play Big Green Help. It is entertaining and challenging enough that older children and adults will enjoy it as well.

The Outcome for Kids

If children playing Big Green Help also visit the companion section of Nick Jr, they may become more environmentally responsible and show an increase in their ecological awareness. Big Green Help by itself is likely only to plant a seed of ecological awareness.

Resources:

The Big Green Help - Download and Information

http://www.nick.com/minisites/biggreen/index.jhtml?adfree=true&_requestid=1927568#

Nickelodeon/Nick Jr (companion) green site for kids.

Info, activities, printables, etc

http://www.nickjr.com/parenting/parenting_features/big-green-help/index.jhtml

Animation Insider article

http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=1928