Children’s mobile game Planet Pink Club emphasizes kindness and compassion

Lisa Vidaurri Bowling, The Monroe News
·4 min read
Surrounded by some of the characters she's created, Nancy Hahn recently launched Planet Pink Club, a mobile game for young children promoting kindness as game rewards. Nancy Belle Studios, headquartered in Monroe, produced the game.
Surrounded by some of the characters she's created, Nancy Hahn recently launched Planet Pink Club, a mobile game for young children promoting kindness as game rewards. Nancy Belle Studios, headquartered in Monroe, produced the game.
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Nancy Hahn is teaching the value of kindness through a mobile video game – Planet Pink Club.

Hahn, a Pennsylvania resident, is the game creator and is best known for creating children’s books and multiplatform, multicultural children’s media that not only entertains but educates and inspires young audiences.

Saline-based Azure Ravens Entertainment wrote the software and Nancy Belle Studios, headquartered in Monroe, produced the game.

"The young 7 crowds often get neglected when it comes to fun educational games, so getting the opportunity to bring this world to life has been a blast. We are so excited to show the world all the games currently in development and to get Planet Pink Club mobile in the hands of gamers worldwide,” said Corbin John Reeves, founder and creative director of Azure Ravens Entertainment in a written statement. Reeves is the co-organizer at the Michigan Branch of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Hahn said talent is no longer found in just one part of the country and giant gaming companies are making that recognition.

“This puts Michigan developers in the forefront where they deserve to be. It’s no longer that you have to go to the West Coast to get fantastic mobile game developers,” she said. “With Michigan producers and a Michigan company developing the software, it’s a broad Michigan connection. It’s proof in the pudding. I’m from Pennsylvania and I’ve been successfully creating content globally.”

Planet Pink mobile game, available on Google Play, is based on Hahn’s Planet Pink book series and the Planet Pink iHeartRadio story series. She said it’s a fun game where children are nurtured to play, learn and earn reward points.

Princess Zeeba is one of the characters featured in Planet Pink Club, a mobile game for young children promoting kindness as game rewards.
Princess Zeeba is one of the characters featured in Planet Pink Club, a mobile game for young children promoting kindness as game rewards.

Many pink characters live on Planet Pink, a dwarf planet discovered by NASA in the Milky Way. Characters with heart ears include Lolly and her best friends, Zolly and Molly, Princess Zeeba, Prince Heartfelt and King Kindness. Their ears grow by doing kind deeds.

Released in April, the game, available in regular and advanced versions, incorporates kindness and learning about the universe with real science. The platform has been awarded the “Teacher Approved” certification from Google Play.

According to Hahn, Planet Pink Club is the only mobile game created for children that has its own iHeartRadio Station. Hahn is the founder and owner of the iHeartRadio stations iRead2Know iHeartRadio and iHeart Family, iRead2Know Podcast Station, MyToons Radio, iHeartRadio, American Busker iHeartRadio, American Busker Podcast Station iHeartRadio and Playlist iHeartRadio Stations: The Adventures of Eshe the Ethiopian Elephant and iRead2Know Workshop.

“I created the Planet Pink franchise in 2014 dovetailing from NASA discovering the pink planet,” she said. “The entire game is all rooted in real science. I did research with NASA and I created the characters. I talked with the discovery team. It was fascinating. I then wrote the book series that are now in libraries all over the world.”

Believed to be 57 light years from Earth, almost 10 years ago astronomers discovered a magenta-color planet named GJ504b. It’s about the size of Jupiter with several times more mass.

In 2015, Hahn built the iHeartRadio stations for which she creates the content. Due to the popularity of the Planet Pink franchise, creating a mobile game was the next logical step.

Hahn said the mobile gaming world is a male-dominated field so she spent a year studying mobile gaming before making the commitment. She knew she did not want to create a game that involved violence. She wanted to promote kindness.

As players answer questions correctly about Planet Pink, they have the opportunity to rescue and unlock new characters from the Planet Pink stories in the Kindness Journal.

“It has been received so well. It is the only mobile game that uses kindness, and that’s never been done,” she said. “It lights up the brain in a positive way. It uses kindness as your reward points. When you get a lot of kindness reward points, your heart ears grow. There’s only positive rewards.

“Kindness makes you feel good, and that’s the message of Planet Pink. Hopefully, it becomes a habit.”

Information on Hahn and her work is available online at planetpinkclub.com.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Mobile game Planet Pink Club emphasizes kindness and compassion