Parting Shots: Interactive game entertains and educates

PlayStation, Xbox, and Sega are familiar terms, and most everyone still remembers all the fun they had (or still have) playing Nintendo and arcade games. Dig deep into your memory bank, and the word Atari probably still makes you smile. Imagine how you would feel if your boss came to you and asked you to play a video game as part of your training. Sound bizarre?

If you think there isn’t time for fun during the workday, the folks at purging compound manufacturer Novachem beg to differ. They want to entertain as well as educate, and have developed an interactive online game for molders to remind themselves of the inefficiency of resin buildup.

From the cockpit of a spaceship, players shoot resin residuals from screws and barrel walls. There are consequences if the residue isn’t removed quickly enough; punishments include a period of downtime, during which the player must remain inactive. To reload your ammo, move your spaceship to catch falling buckets of Novachem’s InstaPurge.

As you shoot the resin, the game gives practical advice, such as “avoid degradation,” “reduce teardown,” “reduce transition scrap,” and “decrease teardown.”

For the player to receive product information, he or she can press the “boss” button, which brings up a data sheet containing details on purging and Novachem’s product line.

When your time is up, the screen will either read, “You’ve been purged,” or tell you that you’ve won. If you have been purged, don’t fret; there’s a link at the bottom that prompts you to play again. And destroying the evil resin merits a reward: Novachem is giving away a free hat to those who win. Wishing you could play? Go to www.leverage-marketing.com/instaeliminator.