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High Concept: Overview and Vision Statement

Testdrive USA is an interactive board game that makes learning the rules of the road easy and fun for new drivers and their families. Most driver's license handbooks offered by the US Department of Vehicles (DMV) offices today are dull and cumbersome and not geared to teens. Few affordable and effective alternative training materials for new teen drivers are available. Testdrive USA is one of them.

Need for the Game

In 2010, the latest year for which data are available, motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death among 13-19 year-old males and females in the United States, accounting for 36% of all deaths in this age group. Roughly 35,000 American teens have died in automobile crashes in the past five years. That’s 6,000 per year, and a whopping 18 per day.

In 2006, again the latest data available, crashes involving 15- to 17-year-olds cost more than $34 billion nationwide in medical treatment, property damage and other costs, according to an AAA analysis. One downside about the increasingly mobile, always connected era in which we live, is a new "driving while inTEXTicated" epidemic. In 2011, 23% of auto collisions in the US involved cell phones, and 11 teens die every day in the US from texting and driving.

Clearly, teenagers and their families can benefit from an interactive board game that can help address these many safety concerns in a fun and non-threatening way.

Serious Goals

The primary goal of Testdrive USA is to teach players how to drive safely. The game addresses much of the same content you would find in a DMV handbook, but in a more engaging way. Players learn about speed limits, seatbelts, alcohol limits, appropriate cell phone use, signaling, and child restraints. The game is in its first pilot stage now, but could certainly be adapted to more specifically address laws that may vary from state to state.

Testdrive USA’s board game platform also aims to encourage open communication about safe driving between new drivers and their friends and family.

Target Audience

Testdrive USA’s target player audience consists of 14- to 18- year-olds applying for their first driver's license and their families.

Testdrive USA advertisements will be targeted to teens, their families, and educators via the following channels:

Succinct Gameplay Summary

Testdrive USA can be played by one or more players. The board itself depicts a small city with different areas, such as residential, commercial, recreational, etc. The players drive through cells, which resemble streets and highways. Figure 1 displays the Day side of the board:

Test Drive USA day board
Figure 1. Testdrive USA Game Board - Side A (Day)

The objective of the game is to collect all the errand cards that are distributed on the board, making sure that each player visits each of the different sections at least once. Errand cards include going to the bank, going to the gas station or returning books to the library, for example.

Players encounter challenges along the board, which act as the key teachable moments and foster discussion throughout the game. Landing on any of the cells marked orange will introduce a road condition, such as heavy rain, speeding or texting while driving, and the consequence for each particular situation, which could be a reward or a punishment. This way, the players will learn about safe and unsafe practices they may encounter while driving and discuss these important issues with other players.


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