For the past year, we here at Whole Mind Studio have been hinting at our first ever project in development - WaterWays: Match and Release. WaterWays is a mobile matching game where players follow the story of a young boy named Finn who is trying to help a Red-Eared Turtle get home, with the help of his grandfather. Players will progress through levels by solving unique puzzles and cleaning up the environment as they try to get their new turtle friend home. The more players progress the players will learn about their surrounding marine life by meeting a variety of animal friends who will lend a hand on their journey. WaterWays is all about giving people the opportunity to learn more about the interesting creatures that live in various bodies of water in North America and showing the importance of environmental preservation. 

The inspiration for WaterWays comes from a short documentary video on youtube from the channel M2档案. During a trip to Tadoussac, Quebec a representative of the channel recounts a story about the white beluga whale population of the area. The story centers around the work of Professor Roberts Muchaud, current president of GREMM, an organization dedicated to marine life preservation in the St. Lawrence.The story is of a young orphaned calf who was found by Professor Michaud and his team while on expedition. Rather than abandoning the calf, the team spent several long hours looking for an adult female whale to adopt them. Cases like this are not uncommon as the white whale population has a history of being threatened due to excessive hunting and pollution. It’s because of this and Professor Michaud’s experience visiting Tadoussac as a young boy that drives his passion to help these animals. After many hours and with the help of technology developed by Professor Valeria Vergara the team was able to find a suitable foster for the calf who would later grow up to a healthy adult age. Professor Michaud hopes that one day while doing research, the sample he’ll take will resemble that of the calf, showing their continued lineage.

The story of the young calf and the unfortunate effects of pollution and excessive farming on the whale population is what inspired us to make this story. Now more than ever it’s important to preserve our environment and highlight the incredible work of people like Professor Michaud and Vergara who look to preserve marine life. As lovers of videogames and with experience in researching games, we know that this medium is helpful in exploring these issues and providing accessible ways to engage with this topic. By incorporating accessible mechanics and some adorable animal friends we hope the Waterways can be a part of these important conversations.