Kerve partnered with We Are Futures to transform a workshop activity into an engaging digital experience that introduces young people to the world of maritime careers through interactive play.

What the client wanted

We Are Futures approached Kerve with a clear ambition: to create a digital extension of their Future Navigators educational programme for Lloyd’s Register. Delivered through workshops around the world, the programme helps young people better understand the maritime industry and the wide range of careers available within it.

As part of the workshop experience, participants navigated ships around obstacles using physical instruction cards inspired by block coding principles. The goal was to translate that hands-on activity into a gamified digital experience that young people could continue engaging with both during and beyond the workshops themselves.

The solution needed to work seamlessly across a wide variety of devices and territories, ensuring accessibility for younger audiences regardless of hardware limitations or internet conditions.

What we did

Kerve designed and developed a fully web-based game that brought the workshop mechanic to life in an interactive, scalable format – with no download required.

Players guide a ship through increasingly challenging levels by inputting directional commands, carefully navigating around obstacles including oil spills, marine wildlife, other vessels, and more. Inspired by coding logic and problem-solving mechanics, the gameplay encourages strategic thinking while remaining intuitive and accessible for younger audiences.

To increase engagement and replayability, the experience included a star-based scoring system tied to player efficiency, alongside progression rewards and in-game certificates that recognised achievement throughout the experience.

Visually, the game was designed to align not only with the programme branding created by We Are Futures, but also with the low-poly animation style associated with Lloyd’s Register’s wider campaign ecosystem. Performance and accessibility were central considerations throughout development, with optimisation focused on ensuring smooth gameplay across older devices and software versions commonly used in global educational environments.

What the response was like

The final experience was met with an overwhelmingly positive response from both We Are Futures and Lloyd’s Register, successfully translating a workshop concept into an engaging digital product that could scale internationally.

With the game rolling out as part of the latest workshop programme, Future Navigators now provides young people with an accessible and interactive way to discover future opportunities within the maritime industry – while reinforcing the educational goals of the wider initiative.