About

Hello there! I'm Elliot Riederer and I created Ariko: Dark Tide and all of its accompianing materials as a part of my Girl Scout Gold Award over the course of my four years in high school. With its earliest development in the midst of the pandemic lockdowns in 2020, Ariko has come such a long way and I have gained and developed so many skills over the course of creating the game, website, and related materials, all while expanding on my passion for teaching others and environmental conservation. I exhilarated to be finally releasing the game online and hope you will check out all the project has to offer here on the website!

 On this website you can find the game as well as a before and after awareness questionnaire to help both you and I gauge how much you learn from the game, as by playing you will not only gain knowledge about issues like climate change and dead zones, but also learn how to make informed and responsible decisions and protect the environment for the generations to come.

Additionally, there are other quizzes and surveys to test your knowledge and send feedback to me personally. I would really appreciate if you could check those out so I can continue to make the game and the materials available here even more helpful!

Finally, this website also includes all of my materials for educators, as a bit part of my project is trying to make my effect long-lasting and sustainable, and one way I aim to do this is empowering educators through accessible and easy to use materials for teaching about dead zones and related issues, as well as materials to accompany teaching with Ariko: Dark Tide.

Ariko: Dark Tide is an educational visual narrative game, meaning players are able to not only read but also actively engage with the story of Ariko, a girl with a passion for helping the environment. Ariko's world is threatened by the "Dark Tide," which causes ocean waters to turn black and become unsuitable for life, paralleling Dead Zones, a real-life issue that threatens waters all around the world that are largely unknown and underreported. Through this game, players will learn about dead zones and accompanying issues like climate change and pollution and answer questions based on what they learn in order to help Ariko complete tasks on her journey to find a way to stop the dark tide. The game not only teaches about environmental issues but also empowers players to take action in their daily lives to help lessen the impact of these problems and help stop them from worsening by addressing the issue from its source and working to end them by advocating for and pioneering a more sustainable and environmentally-conscious future.