Parties and sleepovers? Forget it. Hanging out together? Nope. Extracurricular school and weekend sports and other activities? Not a chance while we’re all still social distancing.

Well, help for parents and young people is at hand. The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) has a winning way to harness the restless energies of young people during the coronavirus disruption by challenging them to a competition.

The competition is based on the LGAQ’s “Better Communities” simulation game, developed in collaboration with award-winning Queensland game development studio Bail! Enemy Jet and comms experts Articulous. It challenges young Queenslanders to design and build the community of their dreams and also take a turn as mayor, planner and, of course, resident.

Download LGAQ’s Better Communities app from the Android and Apple stores.

What’s in it for the kids? Apart from the pleasure and rewards of spending some of their precious recreational screen time engaging in a constructive, educative and community-minded process?

“A total of $5000 in prize money, that’s what,” says LGAQ chief executive officer Greg Hallam. “We’re offering two $2500 prizes: one for primary school children and one for high school children and young people.”

“Look, the prize money is a juicy carrot and I can’t imagine there’ll be many youngsters whose interest in participating in our Better Communities comp won’t be stirred by the prospect of pocketing $2,500.

“But we’re doing this because the LGAQ wants to do something positive for Queensland kids and families in this difficult time. First and foremost, we wanted to offer kids and families, particularly those experiencing coronavirus gloom, something that could be both a welcome distraction and a worthwhile activity.

“And our ulterior but secondary motive is to try to engage with young people about the importance of town planning and how it can work to build a vibrant, happy, healthy and safe community. Who knows, we may end up cultivating the next generation of town planners.”

The Better Communities simulation game puts the player in charge of every aspect of civic life while building a community, presenting real-world challenges and consequences.

The decisions a player makes impact every aspect of their community’s life: population, housing, economic development, liveability and budget. Success and progress are measured against indicators including happiness and a healthy environment. The game has a range of advisors to help players make choices and decisions, and residents’ comments – in the form of “flitters” – provide feedback aligned to the decisions a player makes.

The app’s ultimate goal is to “reach a balance across community, economic and environment factors, have a high happiness and trust rating and not blow the budget”.

Players’ entries will be judged by an expert panel using a set of criteria based on the game’s indicators and ranking of players’ work and creativity.

Hallam said the Queensland Department of Education, Independent Schools Queensland and the Queensland Catholic Education Commission have been invited to lend their encouragement to the competition by helping to spread the word about it.

“While the winners will enjoy the kudos associated with topping the state, so too can their schools,” he said.

After the May 6 launch, the competition will run until the end of Term 2 – 5pm Friday June 26 – with the winners to be announced the following month.

Entry is only via the Better Communities app. An updated version incorporating the competition entry portal will be available, free of course, from Android and Apple stores.

All information on the competition, including its terms and conditions can be found in the app.