There are no street lights in remote mountain areas of China. In order to reach schools on time, children have to wake up at 5am every day and venture into the dark. This is something that people in the developed side cannot imagine. To construct street lighting for 1 village, at least $9,000 (US Dollars) is required. TENCENT FOUNDATION, the pioneer in online charity industry, only raised less than $1,000 (US Dollars) in the past two years. We hope with the employment of TENCENT’s social media tools, the hardship of the children can be revealed to the online audience. Our aim was to raise $90,000 (US Dollars), to carry out the construction of street lighting for 10 villages.

MISSION ENLIGHTENING, the very first charity-oriented social game, restored the real difficulties children face during their dark mountain walk to game challenges. The players were able to feel the danger and hardship of those children. The game showed the real difficulties of these children, and encouraged participants to donate for them.

People surfed on the Internet did not know the difficulties of the children living in mountain area of China. However, game players usually willing to risk with their characters and overcome challenges in the game. We made the game characters in this game exactly as the children living in mountain area and presented the daily challenges they faced every day. The players were encouraged to purchase game props that could solve the problem of the children, both virtually and physically.

The game was launched on Nov. 16th 2018 on WeChat and QQ, easy to operate and hands on. Players can venture in the dark to feel the danger of children’s daily journey to school. The vivid scenarios stimulated players to purchase more light props for the children, in both virtual and physical worlds. The game also gained access to players’ social circles on WeChat and QQ, making their rankings shown to each other. This action stimulated the purchase of game props and also attracted more players to participate in the game. The donation was repeated and expanded, so as the social influence.

This program gained recognition in both charity and gaming industries. It was awarded as BEST Mini-GAME OF 2018 by YOUDING AWARDS. Around 1,100,000 players participated in the game within two months.

The game ultimately raised $268,000 (US Dollars), which is more than 3 times of the initial target, enough to construct street lighting for around 30 villages. The donation is still effectively going on, providing sustainable solutions of online charity campaigns.