VIRIVÌ E L’OMBRA DELLA PIOGGIA
Virivì e l’ombra della pioggia (Virivì and the shadow of rain) is an adventure for children and young people that explores the culture of safety and climate change.
The first project prototype was co-funded through the “Multi-Risk Science for Resilient Communities under a Changing Climate (RETURN) call for proposals within the ACTERRA project (acterra.eu/).
The final, updated and integrated version is available for free download on the App Store and Play Store, and as a desktop version on Steam.
Game
As Donatella, a curious and determined young girl on the trail of a mysterious elf said to bring bad luck, you’ll explore an imaginary Lucanian village and delve into the topic of flood risk mitigation.
With the help of Virivì, a elf from southern Italian folklore who serves as a metaphor for environmental awareness, Donatella and her friend Antonio will uncover various risk situations and contribute with their research to making the town safer.
From the initial investigations, to the mysterious “alternative photos,” to the moment of the weather alert when the knowledge gained becomes crucial, Virivì and the Shadow of the Rain accompanies the kids on a process of empowerment, encouraging them not to be paralyzed by environmental anxiety, but to actively contribute to the resilience of their community.
Contents
“Virivì e l’ombra della pioggia” is an adventure game for children with a strong educational focus on the risks associated with climate change. It focuses specifically on critical issues and possible individual and collective actions aimed at increasing resilience to flood risk.
The game presents children with concrete actions aimed at mitigating risks through preparation, monitoring the territory and its vulnerabilities, and cooperation between citizens and institutions with a view to community resilience.
As resonant as the theme of “threat” is, “Virivì and the Shadow of the Rain” aims to raise awareness and empowerment through a realistic yet optimistic narrative. It follows the strategy of Climate Optimism to encourage participation and avoid the emotional paralysis associated with environmental anxiety, an increasingly widespread phenomenon among younger generations who have grown up with the idea of a future marked by climate crisis.
Characters
Donatella is the protagonist: a curious and somewhat stubborn girl. Antonio, her best friend, is shy but very clever; whereas Donatella is more action-oriented, Antonio is comfortable with research and the analytical side of investigation. Virivì (the Munaciello) is a mysterious elf who turns out to want to help the kids complete an important mission for the village where they live. Metaphorically speaking, Virivì represents the need to pay attention to environmental issues, the awareness that certain events (e.g., fires, extreme weather phenomena) can no longer be avoided, but only mitigated. Virivì’s message is far from reassuring; in fact, he is initially presented as a negative character, particularly through the narration of the painter Gèrard, a failed mentor who represents the rejection of the call and the dysfunctional paralysis that can be generated by eco-anxiety.
It will be thanks to Donatella and Antonio that they understood that the dangers highlighted by Virivì are real, but precisely for this reason they must be faced with a constructive and positive attitude. It will be through their actions that the game promotes the idea that the climate crisis must be addressed immediately with the courage, ambition, and optimism of a child.
Impact
Transforming risk perception from an abstract concept into an applicable skill is one of the most complex challenges for those designing regional training experiences. The study conducted with the University of Florence on Virivì and the Shadow of Rain did exactly that: 168 participants, two comparable groups, and an applied task on a real-world building. The result: those who played Virivì showed a statistically significant improvement in their ability to classify flood risk according to the official P0–P3 scale. Not a self-reported perception, not a generic intention, but a situated, measurable judgment that holds weight before institutions and evaluation boards. It is the difference between sharing an experience and demonstrating a change.
