Blast Off Game

History of the Blast Off Game

The first version of the “Blast Off” game was called “MyPyramid Blast Off”, which was introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2005. This game was released in conjuction with the “2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans” for the purpose of educating kids about nutrition. In 2010, new dietary guidelines were scheduled to be released, but the release date had to be postponed. The new nutrition guidelines were finally announced on January 31st, 2011. The game kept running under the same title, “MyPyramid Blast Off”.

In the early months of 2012, the title of the game was changed because the term “MyPyramid” is the graphical representation of the 2005 dietary guidelines. The USDA needed to change the title to reflect the 2010 dietary guidelines. The new name came to be “Blast Off”. Well, they did not only drop the term “MyPyramid” from the game title, but they also had to do some modifications to the game. One change that was made was the the removal of the food pyramid shaped space rocket, but other modifications were also carried out to reflect the new nutrition guidelines, which are now graphically represented by the plate model, “MyPlate”.

Today the game is often searched for in the search engines as: “Blast Off Game”, “MyPlate Blast Off Game”, but also “MyPyramid Blast Off Game”

Below you can see screenshots from the first version of the game. Note the name of the title and the pyramid shaped space craft.

What is the Blast Off Game about?

The “Blast Off” game is an interactive online game where children need to fuel a space rocket to reach Planet Power. Fuel is injected in the form of food and physical activity, giving the space rocket the proper energy to take off. The Blast Off Game was primarily created for children aged 6 to 11 for the purpose of educating about nutrition, based on the USDA dietary guidelines. Today, this game is still refered to as MyPyramid Blast Off Game since it was so popular, but more and more people are also calling it MyPlate Blast Off Game.

How do I play the Blast Off Game?

Now that you know some background about the game you are probably ready to try it out.

1. To start playing, click were it says “Play the Game!”
2. Now you enter your first name, gender, and age. Hit the “Enter” text.
3. Read the “Mission Briefing” and hit “Continue”.
4. Then read the “How to Launch” information to understand how the game works. Then click “Play The Game” when you are ready to play.
5. You can now start selecting food items from 1) Breakfast, 2) Lunch, 3) Snacks, 4) Dinner, but also select exercise from 5) Activity. Make sure to use the green arrows in order to scroll through the different choices. Once you want a certain item just drag it to the plate and add it to your plate.
6. When you are ready selecting and have filled up the “activity battery” and the “fuel tank”, you can hit “BLAST OFF!”
7. Read your mission report to see if you had a successful mission!