Meet Nisha, a 19-year-old girl from a lower-middle-class family in Delhi studying to be a teacher. She has dreams and ambitions to pursue but life is not easy. She must navigate through the realities of life—whether it’s her family telling her what to do, her relationships, and niggling doubts about what’s right and wrong—before making informed choices.
Nisha is a character in a mobile game, Go Nisha Go, but she could well be one among the 116 million population of adolescent girls in India who are bogged down by societal mores and a lack of understanding of what they want.
The game looks to equip girls in India with the right resources so they can make better decisions about their reproductive health, understand consent in relationships, and have a more informed say within their family structures.
Go Nisha Go is the result of choices that changed the trajectory of Susan Howard’s mother more than 70 years ago. Howard is the Co-founder of Howard Delafield International (HDI), a women-led team of creative problem-solvers addressing social, environmental, and health challenges. HDI, under its initiative ‘Game of Choice, Not Chance’—a social impact project funded by USAID in India, launched Go Nisha Go for girls between the ages of 15 and 19.
“My mum had clear goals as a young woman. She had ambitions not only to finish school but also to study in the US. She negotiated with her parents to put off marriage in pursuit of her education and said she’d marry after she graduated. I think of how her life may have turned out very differently if she hadn’t followed her ambitions,” Howard said earlier.
Go Nisha Go is available for free on Google Play Store and has a 4.4 rating. The mobile game takes the user through five different levels, enabling them to explore, learn and develop decision-making skills through immersive role-play with the help of Nisha.
Kavita Ayyagari, Country Director and India Team Lead at Game of Choice, Not Chance, breaks down Go Nisha Go and the far-reaching impact the game can have on girls.
“It all started with a small USAID grant, following which we started research on over 200 girls from three locations—Delhi, Rajasthan, and Bihar, with our partner, Girl Effect. We asked the girls several questions on the issues they face during adolescence—identity, mobility, knowledge of sexual reproductive health, menstruation as a process, who they go to for advice when they face challenges, or their understanding of consent in relationships,” she tells HerStory.
Girl Effect is a creative non-profit empowering girls to change their lives.
The team realised that girls do not have credible information on menstruation, fertility, and consent due to hesitation in discussing these issues, and are often pushed by their families to adhere to existing social norms.
As Nisha, users can experience the outcomes of their choices in the virtual world, understand them, replay, and decide differently to see what happens. She also pours her heart out in her magical diary, enabling the user to feel her emotions and process the little niggling doubts that crop up as her life takes new turns at every step.
Once the app establishes users are above the age of 15 years, it starts with Level 1 where Nisha has a tussle with her father on what she should wear, and interns with Dr Paromita Ghosh as she films a web series, My Manzil, featuring different women achievers. Told in a mixture of English and Hindi (Hinglish), the journey begins with the tagline, Go Nisha Go, Jee Le Apni Zindagi.
On Level 2, Nisha travels with Dr Ghosh to Sikkim, where they meet Dr Aruna who runs an incubation centre that makes period products better. The level focuses on menstrual health, imparting information, offering resources on products, and busting myths. She also develops a romantic interest in Ayush.
“At the end of the episode, she gets a call from her younger sister, who has got her first period. Nisha advises her younger sister, drawing from what she has learnt,” says Ayyagari. The game also provides links to videos, products and services, including a menstrual health helpline.
Further, on level 3, Nisha meets Shireen Mistry, a YouTube influencer, who talks about consent and how every relationship should be respectful and friendly. She also has to decide whether she should go out for a movie with Ayush and how far she can take the relationship.
“On her first date, Ayush asks for a kiss; she can choose between saying yes or no, she has a choice. The game is not judgmental about her decisions. It’s built in such a manner where she takes the decisions and faces the outcomes,” Ayyagari adds.
The app also provides links to helplines of women-focused NGOs like TechSakhi, Rati Foundation and Project Nyay'ri—not just as a way to help the character but equip the user with resources.
In the fourth episode, Nisha meets nurse-entrepreneur Anu George, and the conversation is centered on the risks of unprotected sex, contraception, consulting a doctor, and the option of saying yes or no in a relationship.
Kavita Ayyagari
The final level sees Nisha in a dilemma—her parents have chosen a boy for her to marry. Will she end up telling her parents about Ayush, or that she doesn’t want to get married right away, or will she reject the idea of marriage altogether and pursue her ambition of becoming a journalist? The game offers her different choices and the user can select them to see different outcomes.
“The game has a dynamic ending and gives you a report card with scores. There is also a mini game with questions to test what you have learned. There is also a link to the chatbot Ask Paro, for any questions you may have,” says Ayyagari.
So far, Go Nisha Go has 3 lakh downloads, achieved through Facebook and Instagram campaigns to popularise the game.
“We carried out a performance marketing campaign for increasing downloads and tied up with influencers in the three states (Delhi, Rajasthan, and Bihar) in the first month of the launch. We also ran a campaign, Nisha Se Mile Kya (Have you met Nisha?) with a partner to train girls to talk about specific topics and promote the game on ground,” she adds.
Game of Choice, Not Chance is looking for funding to develop the game in other Indian languages, and Ayyagari says it is being downloaded in all states. It has also received a grant to develop a game for girls in Nepal.
Edited by Kanishk Singh
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