Zeus the Mighty

When National Geographic Kids reached out to us to help support the upcoming release of their new book Zeus The Mighty, we said “By Great Zeus’s Beard! We are on board!” The story takes place within a pet supply and rescue center named Mount Olympus that sits high on a hill in Athens, Georgia—and they wanted a game that kids could have fun playing while being passively introduced to the characters and storylines of classic Greek Mythology. Our solution became an endless-climbing platformer game with Zeus—the eponymous hamster—as the main character who tries to reach the highest level possible while collecting coins to maximize score and earn extra lives. Optimized for desktop or mobile play, the game is embedded within the Zeus The Mighty page of the Nat Geo Kids website and is probably the most fun you can have while learning about mythology!

The game begins the moment that the player jumps on a platform. Once set in motion, the platforms will steadily move downwards and offscreen while Zeus must avoid obstacles and successfully jump from platform to platform to stay above the bottom of the game board. Upon reaching the end of each level, kids are asked a multiple-choice question about Greek Mythology that they must answer correctly to move on. If Zeus ever falls from a platform or fails to climb fast enough, as the levels become increasingly more difficult, disaster ensues. Failure is only a brief obstacle, however, as extra lives and quick replayability ensure kids stay entertained. Our end goal was to create a fun-to-play game, built on a new framework that could be reapplied to future stories as well, since Nat Geo Kids anticipate multiple books will be released within this charming, quirky setting.