Like everyone else at STAF I was beaming with pride to see the young people involved with our Youth Just Us! Project have their work with No Knives Better Lives (NKBL) recognised, not only on BBC radio Scotland but Sky news too! When supporting I saw the thought and effort they put into our Zoom calls with game designers at Pocket Sized Hands, contributing to the designing of the game ‘Nae Danger’ for NKBL.

The group pondered on how best to reflect their own experiences of knife crime and of growing up when sometimes knifes were used by some of their peers, telling tales of people they knew who had been affected by knife crime. Some being hurt and injured but also of friends who had made the mistake of carrying a knife and the calamitous consequences that had brought on them.

When completed they knew the game was to be played amongst young people, either in a classroom or youth group setting. The group explained how authenticity was the key to ‘Nae Danger’ being a success, wanting to play their part in bringing about more discussion around knife crime.

After a few weeks, the designers came back to show the group what they had created using their ideas and asked for feedback. This session was hilarious, the young people were less impressed by parts of the draft game, “It’s no right”, “it’s too American” some said. The young people were firm, repeating that the game had to feel real, be Scottish! The designer’s solution was to enlist the help of those in the group who wanted to be the voices of characters in the game. This extra work was completed, voiceovers were made and the game was launched this month.

This was another special undertaking with which the young people put all their effort into. Using experiences and wisdom to create a game we all hope people will enjoy and make good use of when talking about knife crime.

Play the game