BinJA

Inspiration

We found the number of different bins to be confusing when wanting to dispose of our waste, as there are many situations in which we are not sure where to put the rubbish. So we decided that proper waste disposal was the issue that we wanted to tackle since waste can have wide-reaching impacts across the environment. We also wanted to create something fun and interactive so we developed a mobile game which could be fun but also act as an educational tool for students and other people who want to learn more about recycling.

What it does

BinJA is a mobile game in which players need to sort trash into the correct bins, under pressure, to grow their score. Players get 5 lives and lose one for each piece of trash in the wrong bin. They have a score which increases with each correctly placed piece of trash. The game ends when they lose all 5 lives. As the game progresses, items spawn more frequently. The game includes sprites for trash which are commonly wrongly disposed of, such as drinking glasses, light bulbs, coffee cups and so on. We have added functionalities like a menu as well as restart and pause options. The game also includes sound design and hand-drawn sprites so it is more engaging.

How we built it

BinJA was built using the game engine Godot, and all the scripts were written in GDscript. The game includes sprites for different types of bins and, recyclable and non-recyclable trash, which were created by the team in Pixilart. The music and sound effects were also created by the team.

Challenges we ran into

Three-fourths of the team had no experience with Game development, and the one member who did had limited experience working with Godot, the game engine that our game uses. So it took a while to get the team on board with the idea. We had a few mishaps with our GitHub repository, and it took us a long time to able to test the game on a real mobile phone, but it all worked out in the end.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The motion of the trash objects was tricky to nail at first. But after some work, we were able to make it so that we could have objects being flung onto the screen with increasing frequency as the game progresses. This makes the game more challenging and entertaining for the players while teaching them something valuable.

What we learned

Apart from dipping our toes into the world of game development, and getting better at it, the team also learnt how to make a project on a short timescale, which is a valuable skill. We also learnt a lot about recycling while researching for the game.

What's next for BinJA

We are thinking of expanding functionality to include a leaderboard where players can see how other players have performed. We could also add some facts explaining further about the different types of recycling and why the items belong in the bins they do.

In terms of usage, DEFRA has plans to potentially make recycling rules the same across the country and BinJA could play a role in spreading awareness of these changes and the new rules to those who may otherwise be confused or otherwise remain uninformed. If these plans do not go ahead, we believe that BinJA would still have an important role with local councils and spreading information to their residents.