Sima by Kukua

The Solution

Game-based learning presents a promising alternative for refugee children who lose access to a traditional classroom education. Kukua’s game-based learning app, Sima, is a highly engaging, open source mobile game that empowers refugee children aged 5-10 to master basic reading, writing, and numeracy. The game employs a user-centered design approach to inform all aspects of Sima’s research, design, and testing. Sima was built in collaboration with a team of Syrian experts and storytellers, Arabic curriculum and content developers, and cognitive psychologists and psychosocial well-being experts.

Incorporating elements of Syrian myth and folklore, the game includes nine culturally-relevant worlds and five levels throughout which the animated heroine, Sima, guides players on a structured learning path. Through the game’s dynamic story and reward systems, children internalize positive messages in areas such as resilience, emotion management, mental and physical self-care, and cross-cultural interaction.

Existing Partnerships

Kukua has partnered with the following organizations:

• Echo VC
• firstminute capital
• Founders Factory
• Kima Ventures
• Burda Media
• Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)