Monster Cleaner: a serious game to learn cleaning

Children generally do not like cleaning their rooms. To change their behavior, we propose a serious game that makes cleaning fun and motivates children to clean their room. In our game “Monster Cleaner,” children collect virtual monsters by sucking dust using a vacuum cleaner-like device. Two people participate in the game in a competitive manner. The more dust a player cleans, the more monsters the player will collect. The system not only makes children clean their room in a fun manner but also teaches them to the use of a vacuum cleaner. The system was demonstrated in an exhibition and the observation of game play suggested that our system can make cleaning enjoyable for children and help them learn to use a vacuum cleaner.