Aware.org's third campaign to tackle underage drinking through Roblox

Create a fresh, engaging way to communicate drinking dangers without violating platform guidelines

Roblox's strict community guidelines prohibit direct references to alcohol or drinking when targeting users under 17, creating a unique creative challenge. Aware.org needed an experience that would clearly communicate the negative effects of underage drinking without explicitly mention alcohol. It needed to encourage cooperative play to maximize organic reach and the concept had to stand out from previous campaigns while maintaining message effectiveness. It needed to appeal to South African teens during their peak gaming time in school holidays, and most importantly, it had to drive meaningful engagement that could translate to real-world behavior change.The key challenge was to develop a compelling game mechanic that would make serious consequences feel relatable and memorable for players, while encouraging the social gameplay that makes Roblox experiences truly go viral.

Escape the party before bad choices turn you into a Zombie

We created an immersive escape room experience where players find themselves at a house party that has gone horribly wrong. Teens who "partied too hard" have transformed into different types of zombies, each representing classic negative effects of excessive drinking. Players encounter Aggro Zombies who become violent and want to fight, Cringe Zombies performing embarrassing dance moves on the dance floor due to lost coordination, Emo Zombies crying in bathrooms with ruined makeup, and Passed-Out Zombies sleeping on couches and in doorways that must be carefully navigated around.

Players have 10 minutes to work together as a team, following clues and collecting objects to escape the zombie-infested party before they become zombies themselves. Environmental storytelling through posters and zombie dialogue reinforced the consequences with messages about "zombie side effects" like "intense regret in the morning." To drive participation, we introduced branded UGC jacket rewards for the fastest South African teams and leveraged the cooperative gameplay to encourage friend invitations, meeting teens where they already are to spark real-world behavior change aligned with Aware.org's mission.