How Portuguese Video Games Are Promoting Sustainability and Mindfulness

Welcome to the second edition of Games From Portugal, a monthly publication that brings you the latest updates and news stories from Portugal's video game development sector and creative industries. This newsletter is brought to you by eGames Lab, a unique e-games development and creative industries cluster in Portugal.

This month’s newsletter explores sustainability through the lens of video games, and how video games developed in Portugal such as Waste Rush are being used to promote the Green Agenda. 

Elsewhere, we chat with Portuguese studio Infinity Games about its new app Chill, which combines music, meditation and breathing techniques with gamification elements to get its users feeling zen. The studio is currently undergoing tests with PhD students to examine the benefits of the app. 

You’ll find both of these stories, as well as updates on our attendance at this year’s Gamescom and the visibility of Portuguese game studios at the show, below.

Promoting Sustainability Through Video Games: Walk Me Solutions and The Greener Act

Video games are arguably the most immersive form of entertainment. Every day, millions of players across the globe jump into virtual worlds, venturing on epic quests, competing in multiplayer warfare, or racking their brains over complex puzzles while on the subway. 

But within these experiences exists something else entirely: opportunity. Video games' engaging nature and unparalleled reach make them perfect for educating audiences about important issues. Two eGames Lab consortium members, WalkMe Solutions and Greener Act, have been looking at ways to put that into practice with sustainability.

Improving Recycling Habits with Waste Rush 

With over 15 puzzle and trivia games to its name, WalkMe Solutions has mastered the art of crafting highly engaging mobile experiences. 

However, when eGames Lab tasked them with developing a casual mobile game to promote sustainability and The Green Agenda, the studio faced a new challenge. WalkMe Solutions had to create a mobile game that was fun to play while ensuring it would educate players on how to improve their lifestyle habits. 

The result is Waste Rush, which was released worldwide earlier this year on the iOS and Google Play stores. For anyone who has ever played Temple Rush, this 2D endless-runner will feel somewhat familiar, but there’s one big difference. Instead of hunting down lost treasures as an Indiana Jones-wannabe, you’ve got a much more important (and highly educational) mission — protecting the environment.

In Waste Rush, you control a vehicle or character responsible for collecting garbage along a track. Your main task is to gather all the trash and then correctly sort it by placing plastic in the plastic bin, paper in the paper bin, and so on. But as you’re collecting different types of rubbish, you learn handy tips that you can use to become more sustainable in the real world. 

For example, when the player collects a pizza box, Waste Rush explains that this can only be recycled if the cardboard isn’t too greasy. You can also personalize your experience to match your own recycling requirements, such as by changing the color of the in-game bins so they’re the same ones used by your own city or region. 

WalkMe Solutions has seemingly nailed the balance between engaging gameplay and subtle education. Feedback from players so far has been very positive, and the game has already been downloaded more than 500 times. 

The developer's next step is to delve deeper into how Waste Rush is influencing its players' recycling habits. The studio is currently conducting studies to analyze the improvements its users have made so far and to uncover new strategies for enhancing these positive behaviors that can be implemented in future updates.

WalkMe Solutions already has some ideas, such as expanding the game’s recycling set into wider areas—like compost and organic materials—and incorporating minigames that tell the story of what happens to rubbish after it’s been recycled so that players better appreciate the difference that their sustainable efforts will make. 

The Greener Act and Gamification

This approach to helping people understand the impact of their sustainable efforts aligns with the Greener Act app, developed by eGames Lab member, Greener Act. Available on iOS and Android, the Greener Act app is essentially a digital framework for sustainability, letting users measure the impact of their sustainable efforts through elements of gamification. 

One of the biggest benefits of the Greener Act app is that organizations can also use it to support their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. It provides a holistic overview of the areas where the business (and staff members) are doing well and areas where improvements could be made. 

“It’s all about empowering companies to make changes from within,” says Hana Gavliková, Greener Act’s development manager. “Every action you make within the app is measurable, and this data can be easily integrated into environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting throughout the year.” 

As for what these greener actions look like, they can be anything from taking part in a beach clean and measuring the weight of the trash you collect to donating or swapping old items through an in-app marketplace or calculating and offsetting carbon emissions through tree planting.

Making positive changes can be easier when they are made as part of a collective, which is why the Greener Act app also connects users with eco-friendly events. It partners with sustainable organizations to offer local workshops on topics such as composting, wool crafting, and more.

Every time a user completes a greener action or participates in an eco-friendly event, they earn Greener Points. These points are displayed on their account as a badge of their environmental commitment for all their friends and colleagues to see. 

These gamified features have been a significant motivator for the nearly 1,500 users. Together, they've planted more than 500 trees, captured over 12,500 kg of CO2, and removed around 700 kg of trash from local beaches.

And this is only the beginning, with the Greener Act looking to supercharge the sustainable efforts of its user base through new gamified initiatives. The first of these is Sustainable Summer in Madeira which saw users competing to see who could earn the most Greener Points throughout July and August, with the highest earners winning prizes like a hotel break, spa day, and a whale-watching experience. 

The Greener Act is also looking to expand its user base by entering new destinations, with the next major target being the Portuguese island of the Azores.

“Azores has had sustainability in its DNA for years,” explains Philippe Moreau, founder of Greener Act. “We’re launching the app in October for tourism stakeholders in a conference about sustainability at São Miguel where we’ll host workshops and educate them on how the app can be used to calculate the carbon footprint and make Azores even greener!”

Can New Mobile App Chill Get Users to Chill?

Can mobile phone apps help promote mental wellbeing and mindfulness? According to Statista, mobile meditation and mental wellness apps generated approximately $1.4 billion in 2024. Some of the best-known examples of mindfulness apps include Calm and Headspace, but a growing number of start-ups are entering the space with their own innovative approaches to mental wellbeing. 

Chill, developed by Portuguese game studio Infinity Games, brings elements from a variety of mindfulness apps into an all-in-one subscription app. What sets Chill apart from its competitors is its unique focus on haptics and sound, as soundscapes are one of the key features of the app. 

Users are able to add ambiances like rain and birdsong to their favorite songs, all of which have been professionally captured and recorded by Infinity Games’ foley experts. They can even listen to original songs that have been written by the studio’s composer to encourage mindfulness. 

“We’re trying to bring bits of various worlds together, drawing on our expertise in minimalistic and relaxing stuff from previous games we’ve developed, such as Energy and Maze,” says André Miraldo, head of ASO & business development at Infinity Games. 

Chill is the first venture outside of the traditional games business for Infinity Games, whose portfolio of mobile games has amassed more than 250 million downloads. While the studio is based in Portugal, it employs people from across the world and supports various non-profit organizations. The studio’s core values of inclusivity apply to the games they make too, and the development of Chill was born from aspirations to make an app that not only appeals to everyone but has the potential to help everyone, too. 

A Ph.D-proven Ability to Chill 

While there’s a huge market for mindfulness apps, there’s minimal scientific research into their effects on mental wellbeing. Through a partnership with the eGames Lab consortium, Chill will be investigated by two PhD students from the Instituto Superior Técnico at the University of Lisbon and the University of Madeira, who will play and analyze the Chill app to see if it’s capable of relaxing and reducing stress levels in different populations. 

“We’re currently undergoing tests with universities and researchers to dive into the benefits of Chill,” Miraldo says. “This is all part of our social responsibility to give the best that we can and get the app in front of people who will benefit from it the most.”

This research will take place over the coming months, and the results will be published in peer-reviewed papers in the future. 

New Markets 

Of course, making a mindfulness app is very different from developing a traditional mobile game. While Chill includes anxiety-countering minigames such as fidget toys that tap into the studio’s video game expertise, the move from mobile games to apps comes with new challenges, such as understanding the psychology and behavioral styles of a new target audience. 

“Right now, we’re currently testing to understand how the app behaves, how our users behave, and which app features they’re engaging with the most,” Miraldo explains. “Since this is a new market, we have to explore the core audience to understand it. If this was a game, we’d know it was targeted at a specific demographic. But since this is a whole new business to us, we have to do that step-by-step and understand which subscriptions are organic and who’s naturally engaging with the app.” 

Chill is still in testing but will exhibit at this year’s Tokyo Game Show ahead of its global release in early November. For updates on the peer-reviewed studies, keep your eyes peeled for future editions of the Games From Portugal Newsletter. 

Gamescom 2024: First-Ever Portuguese Pavilion Debuts at Europe's Biggest Gaming Event

As the world's largest gaming event and Europe's biggest business platform for the games industry, Gamescom is a major staple on the annual video game calendar. This year’s event was as lively as ever, drawing thousands of passionate gamers and developers to the heart of Cologne, Germany.

But 2024 had a new addition to the show floor that’s been a long time coming — the debut of Portugal, a rising star in the video game industry. According to Portugal’s Trade and Investment Agency, AICEP Portugal Global, the country’s video game sector is expected to reach revenues of around 258 million dollars in 2024, and the annual growth rate is expected to exceed 11% by 2027.

Partnering with the Associação de Produtores de Videojogos Portugueses (APVP), eGames Lab raised Portugal’s first-ever pavilion at Gamescom, highlighting the country’s potential as a rising force in the global gaming industry with the promise of significant cultural influence and economic growth.

But our presence at Gamescom wasn’t just about elevating Portugal’s profile as an innovation hub, it was also a valuable opportunity to engage with the broader industry and gain insights into the key trends shaping the future of gaming. Here are five key takeaways from our time at the conference:

• Emerging Technological Trends: At Gamescom, the eGames Lab team observed significant growth and focus on new technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), which are increasingly being integrated into games to provide more immersive and interactive experiences. This is the future! 
• Indie Games Are Growing: The popularity of indie games rose noticeably at the event, with many independent developers gaining prominence. Particular emphasis was placed on innovation, unique storytelling, and diverse gameplay styles.
• Multiplayer and Online Communities Are Huge: A strong focus on multiplayer games and the strengthening of online communities could be observed. The communities are growing by the day.
• Sustainability and Social Impact in Games: There is a growing concern about the sustainability and social impact of games. Several companies are highlighting social responsibility initiatives, such as creating games that promote environmental awareness and important social themes. They care just as much as we do. 
• New Players and Ecosystems Are Being Born: We identified new and emerging markets present at the largest B2C conference in Europe. These included Georgia, Mongolia, Nepal, and Tunisia. Not less relevant, but already considered a new player with great potential, is Portugal. New discoveries await the Portuguese.

Gamescom is just the start of Portugal’s gaming scene making waves on an international stage. In just a few weeks, we’ll be proudly representing the country once again at another major event, Tokyo Game Show. If you happen to be attending the show, be sure to stop by our stand to see some of our innovative projects first-hand.

Updates from The eGames Lab Consortium 

• eGames Lab consortium member RedCatPig was prominently featured in a European Commission Report, Entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems in rural areas: Startup Village examples, as one of the notable examples of promising businesses and startups in high demand in external markets.
• WOWSystems and Município do Funchal/ITI research team have partnered to develop an innovative narrative system under Unreal Engine for Onewayeleven’s upcoming video game, The Kause.
• Research-wise, the last trimester saw the acceptance and publication of nine scientific papers at several international conferences, covering topics such as gamification to protect cultural heritage and virtual natural environments for enhanced well-being.

Business & Gaming Stories Affecting Portugal 

• The Algarve Tech Hub Summit will take place in October. The event aims to promote innovation, technology, and business in the Algarve and will focus especially on the municipality of Albufeira, where the summit is being held.

• As reported by TimeExtension, Portuguese museum Load ZX Spectrum has partnered with Teknamic and CRL to republish the classic 1985 game “Formula One”. Formula One challenges up to six players to take on the role of team manager and make decisions about sponsors, upgrades, tyres and more. The game has been republished with Portuguese fans in mind and can be purchased for €15 from the museum shop. 

• Leading game platform company FRVR has announced that it has closed a €11.6 million funding round. The money will be used to enhance its platform and, in particular, advance its AI technology. The Lisbon-based company hopes this advancement will provide creators with the tools needed to develop, monetize, and distribute their content quickly and efficiently. 

• Portugal’s eSports market is projected to reach a revenue of €16.8m in 2024, according to Statista. Despite being a relatively small country, Portugal has been dominating the esports sector and is becoming an industry hub akin to countries like France and Spain. Events like ESI Lisbon and BLAST Counter-Strike tournaments as well as the rise of local teams like SAW are further putting the country on the map.

• The DevGamm Awards will take place in November at DevGAMM Lisbon 2024, with the goal of celebrating and recognizing excellence in games. The prize pool will be $100,000 cash, and categories include the most anticipated game and best game from Portugal. Indie Developers and small studios up to 50 people worldwide are invited to participate.

• When Portuguese games industry veteran Philippe Pino started making games in 1999 there were very few video game companies in Portugal for him to learn from and no accessible educational courses about game development. Pino spoke to GM Games at NFC Portgual about his new blockchain game Today and how the industry has changed in Portugal in the last 25 years.