- Award-winning game Go Nisha Go proven to have impact on girls lives through a ‘gold standard’ of research.
On January 18th, 2024, Howard Delafield International (HDI), a woman-owned pioneering team integrating behavioral insights, commercial expertise, and emerging technologies, hosted Gamechangers’ 24 at The Claridges, New Delhi. This milestone event showcased the substantial impact of the USAID-funded award-winning game, Go Nisha Go, in shaping knowledge and behaviors among 15–19-year-old girls. The role-play game, downloaded by over 300,000 adolescents, illustrates the power of choice-making through an avatar and how decisions shape lives.
Go Nisha Go covers negotiation with parents, menstruation, consent, contraception, and delaying early marriage in a fun and interactive way. A randomized control trial (RCT) with approximately 2000 girls in Patna, Jaipur, and Delhi showed significant improvement for players. Those who played the game were at least twice as likely to have comprehensive knowledge of modern contraceptives and had a 119% higher likelihood of understanding fertility awareness. Girls in the treatment group also demonstrated higher intent to seek help for contraceptive and menstrual-related issues.
The game is available for free on the Google Play Store and has garnered over 300,000 downloads with a consumer rating of 4.5. It incorporates a user-friendly chatbot (AskParo) and connects users with a curated selection of 26 products and services. These resources have been clicked over 754,000 times, and the chatbot has received over 200,000 messages. The game is in Hinglish (Hindi language written in English script) and has been downloaded across the country with most downloads from Delhi, Rajasthan, and Bihar.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Zoya Ali Rizvi, Deputy Commissioner, National Health Mission, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, said, “Go Nisha Go represents a significant step towards empowering adolescents and young people with knowledge that extends beyond the virtual world. This knowledge supports positive behavior and informed decision-making by them.”
Go Nisha Go earned accolades in 2023, winning the best serious game by Games and Learning Alliance in Dublin, Ireland, and the ‘Best Learning Game’ at the Games for Change Festival in New York City.
