xplorealms
London
Like thousands of parents across the UK, mother of three, Reedah El-Saie was
frustrated with an antiquated education system originally designed post
industrial revolution to prepare children for factory work. She had witnessed
how exams and revision had caused her children stress and anxiety, resulting in
them losing their love of learning. As a family of diverse heritage Reedah hoped
for a more inclusive curriculum both in terms of content and delivery. In winter
2018, whilst preparing her son for 11+, Reedah came across Fortnite often played
during revision breaks. She noticed how the 3D open world, multi-player, action
game appealed to children across the world. She imagined an educational game
through a 3D open world, including diverse characters and stories, fully aligned
with the UK national curriculum and 11+/13+ entrance exams, enabling learning
through play. After extensive but fruitless research for a pre-existing
educational mobile games app aligned with the UK national curriculum, Reedah
founded Brainspark Games (previously Xplorealms). Her vision was to create a 3D
open world, celebrating diverse characters, using immersive technology to engage
wider audiences as well as BAME, vulnerable and neurodiverse. She researched the
curriculum pedagogy, twenty-first century skills movement and flip schools and
held workshops and interviewed children, parents and teachers to ensure user-led
games!
