Reef Warden

For two months at a time, the marine park rangers (MPR) spend every hour in the heart of Sulu Sea, safeguarding one of nature’s masterpieces – the Tubbataha Reefs. Being a marine park ranger may be a dream job for many, but only a few know what it takes to be one.

All thanks to Reef Warden, developed to promote marine conservation and the challenges associated with it, we get a glimpse of what it really means to be a marine park ranger. It is a turn-based base-building and management game, where players are given the chance to develop their own ranger station to protect the neighboring reef, while also increasing the capabilities of the facility to manage tourists. The players will also have to conduct research to learn more about the reef and protect it.

Reef Warden is a game for Windows PCs that’s also playable in browsers based on the work of the rangers of Tubbataha: law enforcement, research, visitor management, and the like. It is an engaging and challenging game with a novel storyline, and it combines fun and the realities of safeguarding the ocean.

Anton Valenzuela and Rom Enriquez, students from the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science of the Ateneo de Manila University were inspired to develop a game about Tubbataha Reefs, particularly the about the lives of the marine park rangers, after one of their advisers, Mrs. Maria T. Rodrigo, PhD., suggested the concept.

It was Rom who thought of focusing the game on the rangers’ work of protecting the reef. To get an insight about where the concept would take them, they interviewed Protected Area Superintendent, Angelique Songco and two rangers, Mr. Segundo Conales, Jr. and Mr. Jeffrey David. After processing the interviews, the duo settled on the concept for the game.

The game may be found here: Reef Warden

 

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