Hunt for distant planets far outside our solar system in Exoplanet Explorers, an awesome new online game created by astrophysicists from Exeter University.
Let's hunt exoplanets!
Exoplanet Explorers puts you in the shoes of an exoplanet hunting scientist. In the game you’ll take on the role of the primary research officer for the Terra Hunting Experiment, immersing yourself in this pioneering area of space science research.
Using in-game versions of real scientific methods, which are based on techniques used by astrophysicists, you’ll piece together the location and structure of distant exoplanets. Unravel the mysteries of new far-away planets to gain more funding for your research, to then help you make greater discoveries as you go along.
Give it a go, no prior knowledge of exoplanets needed!
Play the game
Exploring our galaxy one atmosphere at a time
Exoplanet Explorers was co-developed over the past two years with a number of young people aged 9-17 from schools and colleges in the South West.
The game was created by the Exeter Exoplanet Theory Group, working alongside award winning digital production studio Fish In A Bottle, Visual Effects partners Engine House VFX and We The Curious.
The Exeter Exoplanet Theory Group specialise in exoclimatology. Using information gathered on exoplanets, they create mathematical models of the climate on alien worlds. In their own words they are “exploring our galaxy, one atmosphere at a time”.
The project was funded by UK Research and Innovation, through a Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) Nucleus grant and supported by a Future Leaders Fellowship.
Jennifer Hendriksz, a Digital Producer and Project Manager for Fish In a Bottle, says “It’s always challenging to strike the right balance between scientific accuracy and fun. We needed to simplify the real tests used for discovering exoplanets in a way that preserved the essence of what scientists really do. This is always tough but it’s an area where we’ve got a lot of experience. User testing is a great way to check if you’ve got the right balance.”
If you like the game and want to find out more about exoplanets, you can check out these two incredible VR tours also produced by the Exeter Exoplanet Theory Group. One has had over 14 million hits already!
