MokuZoku

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for all your gameplay, feedback and support the last few weeks. I'd like to share some details of our second, more open test period, with slightly different metrics that our initial trial run in January and February 2009. And finally, I'm formally asking for your support through the purchase of our super cool t-shirts!



To date, our four mini-games have been played more than 5,000 times on the MokuZoku site. Jungle Jump has been by far our most popular game with Bamboo Builder just behind. The good news is that after 5,000 plays and some excellent feedback from you, we are hard at work implementing the changes YOU want to see to make our games the best they can be.  So they'll be back with some new interesting features in the coming weeks.  In the meantime get out and enjoy the rest of the summer!

In addition, and this is really the more exciting news, by virtue of photo "proof" and the honor system, MokuZoku outdoor game participants have spent 1000+ hours outside this summer and had the good heart to tell us all about it. Whether hiking on Mt. Sanitas in Boulder, tubing the Boulder Creek, hiking the Ute Trail in Aspen Colorado or hiking Mt. Wilson in Telluride, CO, people have been out in MokuZoku gear Playing the Planet.

Check out our flickr group to see some of the stuff we've been up to.  We'd also encourage you to submit photos of you in your outdoor gaming gear too!

And so, with that, we'd encourage you to get behind our Play the Planet movement by heading over to our store and picking up a MokuZoku t-shirt.  We've got more than 15 designs to choose from with new designs being added every week.  Shirts are priced at $24.99 and will ultimately be part of some online and outdoor challenges.

There are some special deals for those folks that have helped out to date.  We are offering 20% off for those users that join our Facebook Fan Page

The number of 2-11 year olds online continues to grow, according to a Los Angeles Times article - and now make up nearly 10% of overall online users. We over at MokuZoku have been aware of this trend and expect it to continue. With that said, we're also aware of the importance of limiting screen time for young users as outdoor play, exercise and exploration are critical to the health and development of kids.



If you haven't read Richard Louv's brilliant book "Last Child in the Woods," it's something that is somewhat of a bible to us.

The fact that kids are closer and closer to technology is a great thing. The critical thing is keeping a balance of online/offline activity as you also have seen a huge increase in obesity levels, attention deficit disorder, strange societal detachment issues and a general LACK of risk taking, which are all skills that healthy, regular outdoor interaction can rectify.

Every once in a while, we take a step back from developing online games and experiences and get to do the things we love most.  This past weekend MokuZoku Co-Founder and CEO, Josh Baylin and World Camp Co-Founder Jesse Pipes headed up Mt. Sanitas in Boulder, Colorado for a good old fashioned "Planet Play."  Jesse asks, "what the challenges are of developing an online/offline game?"



Pretty soon, these adventures will earn MokuBerries online, and as we've done in the past those MokuBerries can be exchanged to do amazing things.

For those not familiar with MokuZoku and World Camp's collaboration check out this earlier post.

Over here at MokuZoku, we're trying to change the how people play games and interact with nature. It's no small task to attempt to design an online experience which drives offline activity and vice versa.

The implications as E.O. Wilson points out are quite substantial as kids that grow up exposed to the outdoors are far more likely to be joyful and pragmatic risk takers.

This challenge is one of the reasons that we are launching customer feedback forums where we want to hear how you want to "Play the Planet."



We know we can't build a great, engaging products without the help of you, our users, our MokuZoku kids and parents, our partners, so I'd encourage you to get in there and tell us what you want.

If you want to see more pictures, more videos, more games, more t-shirts, different activities, tell us!

We've already started getting to work of some of the earliest suggestions including and activity guide for summer beach fun and forthcoming animations to the homepage.

There's lots of great stuff coming from our end - and we really want to hear what you have to say about it!

MokuZoku has been fortunate to connect with many great partners since we got started back in August 2008. Many of you know about our tree planting with World Camp back in January where we planted over 1,500 trees (or about one sapling for every time "Jungle Jump" was played over a one month period!



We've also been working the Pollinator Parntership, a resource for farmers, growers, and consumers about pollination and biodiversity. If you haven't checked out this amazing organization and their resources, we highly suggest you do so.

Just a couple quick facts: At least 80% of our world's crop plant species require pollination and estimates are as high as one out of every 3rd bite of food comes to us through the work of animal pollinators!!! (It's just another one of the reasons we over at MokuZoku think working with creatures is so cool!

We'd like to take this opportunity to share three videos with you edited by one of our excellent interns (special thanks to Matthew Cook!) featuring biologist E.O. Wilson
, a two-time Pulitzer prize winning author.

E.O. Wilson on "A child experiencing nature with their hands" from MokuZoku on Vimeo.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Wilson back in April at a Pollinator Partnership dinner honoring his work.

E.O. Wilson on "The natural development of a child" from MokuZoku on Vimeo.

His view, like ours, is that developing a healthy love of the outdoors for young kids in perhaps one of the most valuable gifts parents can offer their children.

E.O. Wilson on "The importance of getting kids outdoors" from MokuZoku on Vimeo.

We hope you enjoy these clips 1/10 as much as we enjoyed speaking with Dr. Wilson. Stay tuned for some more collaboration between us and the Pollinator Partnership!