Explore: The 'House Party' alcohol project

Participation, dialogue and debate are at the heart of At-Bristol's mission to engage and educate it's visitors.

At-Bristol's expertise in creating opportunities to get the public debating topical issues has led to a highly successful partnership with Allied Domecq.

The project, entitled 'House Party', involved the creation of an innovative multimedia game presented to Explore-At-Bristol visitors on a touch screen. The game aims to educate 11-16 year olds about alcohol and its effects.

The 'House Party' game shows the events unfold one evening at a party where a group of teenagers are drinking. In three rounds, the user is challenged to explore which partygoer consumes the most alcohol, guess the outcome of several sticky situations and take part in a quick-fire quiz game.

To create the content of the game, teenagers in local youth groups were approached to find out what they thought would encourage a responsible attitude towards alcohol among their peers.

Leading experts in alcohol research were consulted including Professor Martin Plant from The University of the West of England and Phil Harris - a writer and researcher specializing in addiction and mental health.

Once plans were devised for how the game would operate, the excellent Bristol-based film company Firstborn Creatives were brought on-board. Local teenage actors were recruited to appear in the game and to help shape the final script. Finally the software was created and the game given life by At-Bristol's multimedia team.

The exhibit launched on March 3 2004 in At-Bristol.

This is what some of our visitors have said about 'House Party'

"I really liked it because it shows you what will happen if you drink too much" Victoria, 13
"The situations are realistic and the characters are believable" Marie, 15 and Alexandra, 14
"It's very educational, I really like the films" Mike, 12
"It's very good, it makes you think!" Hannah, 11
"The game is educational for people of all ages! Rachel, 16
"It's great - it makes young people more aware of the dangers that are linked with drinking" Tim, 14
"Really good game, it informs people on the dangers of drinking" Nick, 13
"I like it because they are all the same age as us" Cass, 15 and Anna, 15

Visit our Measure up on alcohol website… and find out everything you ever needed to know about alcohol!