Ranger Buddies Quest

Interactive wildlife conservation experience for children

Client
Mandai Wildlife Reserve
Agency
Media.Monks
Role
Creative Director
Year
2022
Type
Interactive Experience

Hand a child a pair of binoculars and a mission, and a zoo becomes a world worth protecting. Ranger Buddies Quest turns a visit to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve into an adventure across 28 hectares — scientifically accurate, narrative-driven, and built entirely around play.

Objective

To get children to care about conservation by letting them do it — turning the Reserve into a smart playground with a story at its heart.

Challenge

This is a generation raised on screens, visiting a park full of real animals. The trick was using the screen to push them toward the wildlife, not away from it.

Solution

As Creative Director, I led the vision across UX, product design, content, and technology — and we built the whole thing around a piece of custom hardware: smart binoculars. Children became Rangers, guided by the ancient order COSCAS to protect wildlife, completing missions, unlocking learning points, and earning badges. Touchscreen-and-Kinect outposts turned the park itself into the game board.

Execution

I directed how the binoculars, outposts, and app fit together across the physical and the digital. The binoculars spotted animals, ran the mini-games, and carried the narrative; the outposts deepened it; and a companion app gave parents live tracking, mission control, and the right questions to ask along the way.

Impact

Ranger Buddies Quest changed how children meet wildlife, and went on to become part of a nationwide education programme. It won widely — including a People's Voice Webby in 2024 — and cemented Mandai as a leader in conservation education.

Capabilities

  • Custom Hardware
  • Mobile App Development
  • Interactive Storytelling
  • Kinect
  • UX Design

Awards

  • Webby Awards 2024 – People's Voice Winner
  • Adfest – Mobile Lotus, Bronze
  • Marketing Awards 2024 – Silver x 4
  • Event Marketing Awards 2024 – Best Gamification, Bronze
  • Spikes 2024 – Shortlists x 2
  • ADC – Finalist

Collaborators

  • Bobby Tay
  • Mustapha Zainal
  • Daniel Samson
  • Patricio Lobos
  • AS Anam
  • Vanessa Lim
  • Huang Yizhen
  • Joanna Lim
  • Keith Tang
  • Kayla Chia
  • Delano Kamp
  • Khin Thapyay
  • Alireza Sadeh
  • Emma Gilpin

Live project: https://rangerbuddies.com/en/home

Next project: Tomorrowland