Ukrainian experts in media, law, digital technologies, and education have created a socially-oriented project called Cyber Smart City. It is a free Minecraft server designed to teach teenagers aged 11–14 to recognize online threats through an interactive gaming experience.
Ukrainian experts in media, law, digital technologies, and education have created a socially-oriented project called Cyber Smart City. It is a free Minecraft server designed to teach teenagers aged 11–14 to recognize online threats through an interactive gaming experience.
The authors reported on the development and details of the initiative in the Reddit community. The main goal of Cyber Smart City is to provide teenagers with a safe space where they can test their skills without the risk of losing real money or personal data. A mistake in the game only leads to the loss of game points.
The Cyber Smart City server already has 32 interactive quests integrated into thematic locations. Among them are «Kharkiv Dungeon», dedicated to digital protection and combating phishing, as well as «Kyiv Dungeon», where players learn to distinguish facts from fakes and clickbait and manage confidential data in a game labyrinth.
At the beginning of the game, participants are greeted in the lobby by a virtual assistant, «Cybekotik,» who sends tips in the chat. After completing each location, players enter the Arena, where they compete with mobs. The power of opponents and the quality of equipment depend on the number of points scored during the completion of cybersecurity tasks.
«We conducted several tests with participants, streamed, improved the tasks, and invited teenagers to join the construction. Now they are building their own location with their own tasks,» the project developers note.
The game and access to the server are free for owners of the licensed version of Minecraft: Java Edition (version 1.21.4).
