For players:

How do I play the game?

Here are some basic tips on how to play to get you started.

Can I submit sightings of my pets or garden plants?

QuestaGame accepts sightings of all 'wild' living things, but it won't accept cultivated plants (such as the plants in your garden), or captive animals (like your pets or zoo animals).  Don't worry though, you don't have to look hard to find the wild life around you!

What's a "sighting"?

A "sighting" is when you submit an observation of a certain species of living thing - a.k.a. a monarch butterfly, or multiple monarch butterflies. For each submission, you can submit up to five different photos of the species that you've spotted.

Can I submit the same species multiple times through multiple sightings?

Yes, as long as you don't submit the same species within 1km or 24 hours of each other.

So if you submit a monarch butterfly, and then move 1km and find another monarch butterfly, you can submit it. Or if you submit a monarch butterfly that's perched on a statue, and you come back to that statue 24 hours later, and it's still there, you can submit it again. 

Will the sightings data I collect be shared in public databases for biodiversity research?

Within the app, in Menu > Settings, you can decide whether or not you wish to share the data. By default it's switched on, and will be shared with national and global biodiversity databases for scientific research (such as gbif.org). If you decide to switch it off, all your sightings records - including previous ones - will be removed from the public databases.

How quickly can we expect sighting to be verified?

That depends on the in-game (virtual) “equipment” you use for the sighting.

Whenever you submit a sighting, you can select which equipment you want to use. Each equipment has two ratings:

1) Expertise level indicates the level of the experts in the appropriate category (e.g. birds, reptiles, fungi, etc) who’ll be able to view your sighting. The higher the expertise level, the higher level experts can view and identify what you’ve found.

2) Response speed increases the speed for that expertise level. So if you submit a sighting with an expertise level of six, your response speed increases the speed of responses only compared to other level six sightings in the category (as opposed to overall).

QuestaGame has cultivated a unique network of taxonomy experts around the world, and as more QGame players improve their skills, the network of verifiers expands. QuestaGame believes that environmental expertise is valuable to society and deserves remuneration. As part of this, a portion of QuestaGame’s revenue goes to the Pays to Know Nature fund, which supports conservation organisations selected by the experts, based on how the experts perform on the BioExpertise Engine.

For Organisations:

How can I get my community involved?

There are a few different ways you can get your community using QuestaGame. If you want your community playing the game, then consider signing up for clan (see 'Playing as a Group - Clans'), or hosting a local bioQuest competition. If your community want to help identify what QGame players are finding, while earning donations for your organisation, then consider becoming one of our many conservation partners and encouraging experts to participate in the BioExpertise Engine.

My community has many groups. Can I have multiple clans, one for each group?

Absolutely. You can have bioQuest competitions in which your clans compete against each other. This is an excellent way to get your community learning about and engaging with nature in healthy competition, while increasing your biodiversity map at the same time. 

Can we communicate with our clan?

Yes. You can message the entire clan through the app. Within the app, clan members can view messages and communicate with fellow clan members via Menu > Clans > My Clan. 

How do I create a quest for my clan members?

Any players can create quests using the gold they earn in the game. If you’ve paid for a biodiversity gaming package for your community, we’re happy to help set up quests for you. Simply contact info@questagame.com.

If we're one of QuestaGame's Conservation Partners, can we earn money? 

Yes. That's because a lot of environmental organisations have members with wildlife expertise. Maybe you have a member who can identify plants. Or an experienced entomologist. Or a good twitcher (someone who collects bird sightings).  QuestaGame needs these experts to help identify and verify sightings, which is why it's willing to pay your organisation a donation for their expertise. Learn more...

How much assistance can we expect from QuestaGame?

As much as you require. Bigger clans and tribes will obviously require more assistance. We're here to help with whatever you need - including setting up quests and bioQuest competitions as required. A win for you is a win for environmental education and conservation - which is what QuestaGame is all about.