DON'T KILL THE SQUIRREL! | New game for iPad

Join Our Leader Board Competition and WIN!

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:04:00 -0400

Today marks the beginning of our leader board competition. Share your best Don’t Kill the Squirrel score for your chance to win a $100 dollar iTunes voucher!

Simply upload an image of your highest score here . You can submit your score as many times as you would like until the competition ends on June 30th at 10:00pm. The highest score submitted during the competition will win.

June is National Safety Month, and Warning Label Games wants to spread the word about driving safety. Since don’t kill the squirrel launched it has already been downloaded 5,000 times and played over 100,000! Let’s keep those numbers climbing! If you haven’t played yet download it now for your chance to win, and help spread the word about Driving while Distracted.

Friday Squirrel caption contest…go

Fri, 04 May 2012 17:21:45 -0400

Friday Squirrel caption contest…go

This weeks Friday Squirrel caption contest was an easy pic for...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:21:22 -0400

This weeks Friday Squirrel caption contest was an easy pic for us. We’re quite sure that’s our squirrel from Don’t Kill the Squirrel taking down one of those Angry Birds :) What do you say?

Distracted driving is more than texting. This distracted driving...

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:42:15 -0400

Distracted driving is more than texting. This distracted driving month remember to keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel so you Don’t Kill the Squirrel! (or anyone else)

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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:14:54 -0400

Put the Phone Down: April Is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:13:40 -0400

suryaray:

Even the most LOL-worthy text message is not worth risking your life to read while driving. That’s the message of National Distracted Driv… http://dlvr.it/1RGW9J

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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:13:17 -0400

Peruzzi Mitsubishi Quakertown PA: Teen girls twice as likely to use cell phones while driving as teen boys

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:11:34 -0400

Peruzzi Mitsubishi Quakertown PA: Teen girls twice as likely to use cell phones while driving as teen boys:

quakertownmitsubishi:

Research by the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety has revealed teenage girls are twice as likely as their male counterparts to use devices like cell phones while driving. The study used video taken of young drivers while they were behind the wheel to determine how…

Friday’s Squirrel Caption Contest- Bring Em’

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:09:54 -0400

Friday’s Squirrel Caption Contest- Bring Em’

mistress-of-disaster: It’s time to “Put it Down” Drivers simply...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:12:09 -0400

mistress-of-disaster:

It’s time to “Put it Down”

Drivers simply can’t do two things at once. Period.

Mistress of Disaster: One call can change everything

Friday Squirrel Caption Contest. Go!

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:46:00 -0400

Friday Squirrel Caption Contest. Go!

Check out our Distracted Driving is NUTS! Campaign Flyer as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:28:00 -0400

Click to download

Warning Label Games teams up with leading anti-distracted driving non-profit Impact Teen Drivers

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:59:00 -0400

What happens when a great social game for change teams up with one of the country’s most respected voices on distracted driving? – It’s nuts, in a good way!

We are excited to announce that we have teamed up with leading anti-distracted driving non-profit, Impact Teen Drivers, this National Distracted Driving Awareness Month to launch our new game for the iPad, Don’t Kill the Squirrel!. You can download the game and check out our campaign flyer.

When Warning Label Games approached Executive Director of Impact Teen Drivers, Dr. Kelly Browning about using the game to help raise awareness about distracted driving she immediately loved its creativity and humor.

“Don’t Kill the Squirrel! is a lot of fun and it really puts you in the driver’s seat, showing just how hard it is to drive while you’re distracted. I love the use of real-life distractions in the car like the working radio with changeable channels, the GPS that leads you to your favorite food destination, and of course the smart phone that sends and receives texts. Not to mention the cute cartoon squirrels which add the dose of ironic humor I’ve come to expect from the Warning Label Games team.

“The game is a great fit for our work at Impact Teen Drivers because it educates people about distracted driving while they play. Short distracted driving messages and statistics are displayed between games and on cartoon billboards. Players can also take the Impact Teen Drivers pledge not to drive distracted directly from the game menu.

Impact’s great work

Impact Teen Drivers works in 27 States and they have reached over 2,000,000 high school students across America. Impact Teen Drivers is leading the effort to educate teens about the dangers of reckless and distracted driving through peer-led education campaigns such as the What Do you Consider Lethal teen website and the Create Real Impact competition. They also provide distracted driver education and training to students and parents, educators and health professionals.

Our goal

Most people agree it’s dangerous to drive while distracted, but when in the moment, we often don’t think about the consequences. Through the partnership between Warning Label Games and Impact Teen Drivers and the Distracted Driving is NUTS! campaign we aim to engage players of the game to change distracted driving behaviors in the real world. The game will be coupled with education campaigns and outreach to teens, parents, educators and health professionals.

Stay in touch with Warning Label Games and Impact Teen Drivers throughout National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

On Twitter: @WL_Games & @Whatslethal & #DDisNUTS

On Facebook: Warning Label Games & Impact Teen Drivers

And of course Download Don’t Kill the Squirrel! for iPad by clicking the icon below

Don't Kill the Squirrel! - Now Available in the App Store!!

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:16:00 -0400

Don’t Kill the Squirrel! is now available in the App Store! Download it now at its special launch price of just 0.99 cents!

Our competition to win the iPad 3 has now closed. The winner will be notified within the next 14 days. We’ve had a great response - the Distracted Driving is NUTS! message has been shared with thousands of people over Twitter, Facebook and Email during our 4-week competition, including more than 30,000 impressions on Twitter alone.

To everyone that participated Well done! Let’s keep the movement going and continue to spread the message that Distracted Driving is NUTS! throughout National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

Stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter and of course this blog, for a number of special announcements this week to coincide with our launch.

Buckle Up! Our game has been approved!

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:42:25 -0400

Buckle up! Our distracted driving game, Don’t Kill the Squirrel!, has been approved by Apple. Look out for the release of the premium version next week at a special launch price of just 0.99 cents!

We’ve had so much fun creating Don’t Kill the Squirrel!. How could we not when you combine cute squirrels, chaotic cartoon roads and feral distracted drivers! We’ve also been busy developing new ways to use our game to educate people about the dangers of distracted driving with the aim to change driving behaviors for the better in real life! Stay tuned for a special announcement about our new partnership as part of our launch next week.

If you think you’re a great driver and awesome multi-tasker, put your skills to the test in Don’t Kill the Squirrel!. Collect points for each second you last dodging pedestrians, avoiding dump trucks and swerving cute squirrels. The game features 3D cartoon graphics, easy steering and a working in-car radio with multiple channels.

Speaking of the radio we want to give a shout out to the following incredible musicians who were kind enough to provide the music for our game!

The Plants for ‘If I was a fish’- Check out their website, preview their new album on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Wayne Potash for ‘Ready for dinner’- Check out his music, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

Kevin MacLeod for ‘Neolith’ and ‘Stringed Disco’ - Check out his music and follow him on Twitter.

If you haven’t already signed up for first access to the game and entered our competition to win the new iPad, you have just a few more days to visit www.dontkillthsquirrel.com and enter your email. Share the message ‘Distracted Driving is NUTS!’ with your friends and get more entries into the draw.

If you’re a game reviewer or media and are interested in previewing/reviewing Don’t Kill the Squirrel! contact us at press@warninglabelgames.com. We have a limited number of promo codes available.

Distracted Driving Stats

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:27:42 -0400

Crashes and fatalities

Source: Distraction.gov – U.S. Department of Transport, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

In 2009, 5,474 people were killed and 448,000 people were injured in crashes involving driver distraction.
Of those people killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes)
Teen drivers are more likely than other age groups to be involved in a fatal crash where distraction is reported.
Drivers who use hand-held devices are 4 times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.
Using a cell phone while driving - whether it’s hand-held or hands-free - delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.
Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent - at 55 mph - of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.

Distracted driving behavior

Source: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Drivers spend more than half their time behind the wheel engaged in distracted behavior.
Eating, smoking, adjusting music or rubbernecking while driving can be just as dangerous as texting, emailing or talking on a cell phone.
Passengers are one of the most frequently reported causes of distraction, with young children being four times more distracting than adults and infants eight times more distracting.
A recent study by the University of Utah reconfirmed that our brains are not wired to multi-task. Being distracted behind the wheel for even just a few seconds greatly increases your chance of a crash.

Teen driving behavior

Source: Impact Teen Drivers

Eighty percent of teen drivers own a cell phone.
Nine out of 10 teens have witnessed teen drivers talking on a cell phone; seven out of 10 sometimes see emotionally upset teens drive while talking on a cell phone.
The majority of fatigue-related crashes are caused by drivers under age 25.
Ninety-four percent of teens witness distracting behaviors by teen passengers at least sometimes.

We’re on GameTrailers.com!

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:17:14 -0400

We’re on GameTrailers.com!

Watch out on the roads! If we weren’t driving we’d text you that our game is off to Apple

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:07:00 -0400

It’s an exciting day for all of us at Warning Label Games! Today we submitted our first game to the App Store for approval!!

While we wait with baited breath and fingers crossed, praying to the App Store Gods for a speedy, distraction-free approval of our game, we thought we’d share a few anecdotes from our experience in getting to this very important milestone!

1. What’s in a name?

We had our concept down for many months – a game about distracted driving. We were about two thirds of the way though development when we realised that ‘Distracted Driving’ as a title did not really capture the humor, sarcasm, irony and action of the game we were in the midst of creating.

Over the course of the next week or two, while development continued, we brainstormed like mad, debating the pros and cons of what felt like hundreds of possibilities. With our marketing team on board we visualized and weighed the options – and then… out of nowhere it HIT us like, well… a distracted driver… the perfect title - Don’t Kill the Squirrel!

2. Stop the Coders!

In a throwback to cheesy black and white movies, we actually yelled this out loud in unison! The coders, being in a different country at the time, obviously didn’t hear us and we sheepishly turned and picked up the phone. Clearly with a name like Don’t Kill the Squirrel! we were going to need some… Squirrels!

3. What the hell is a Squirrel?

This is not really a question we were expecting, but when you’re part of an, albeit small, multi-national team, you can’t always assume. Not familiar with seeing squirrels roaming the parks and climbing trees every day, the graphics developers for our game needed us to spend some extra attention explaining just what a cartoon squirrel actually should look like. Getting squirrels in our game that didn’t look like mutant kangaroos was actually more challenging than you might think – but we made it and we love them! Check out the graphic below to see the evolution of our Squirrels J.

4. p.s. The squirrels have certainly helped us make a name for ourselves. At the recent Game Developers Conference, on meeting us for the first time, the folks from Games for Change remarked “Oh you’re those squirrel people who keep emailing us!”.

4. “Our NUTS have arrived”

Not something we necessarily thought we’d be saying when we first came up with the idea for a distracted driving game… But squirrels and nuts go together like… texting and crashing… And we couldn’t resist the campaign slogan Distracted Driving is NUTS! to help us raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

Naturally we were going to need some merchandise to go along with the campaign and what better than some Nut-shaped stress balls (mind out of the gutter – they look like acorns) and yes, “our NUTS have arrived”. Join us on Facebook and we might even send you one.

5. Splash Down!

In one of those “I can’t believe this is what’s stumping my start-up” moments we found out just days before submission that the development tool we had been using would charge us a very hefty fee if we wanted to have our own custom splash screen display while the game was loading. ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!! Did we resolve this one? You’ll have to wait to play the game and see.

Speaking of which, if you want to be one of the first to know when the game is approved, head over to dontkillthesquirrel.com. Enter your email and help us spread the message ‘Distracted Driving is NUTS!’. You will also go into the draw to WIN an iPad 2.

Also don’t forget to check out the Don’t Kill the Squirrel trailer and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest news!

Distracted Driving is a Factor in 80% of Crashes

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:06:00 -0400

winfographics:

We have fought many of the challenges and dangers with driving for years, but there is one area where the problem is rising. The rise of mobile devices and connectivity has turned distracted driving into something we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Will laws and public opinion be able to change this?

(Via: Edmond OK Chevrolet. H/T: Automotive SEO)

Friday Squirrel Caption Contest - GO!

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:42:22 -0400

Friday Squirrel Caption Contest - GO!

DON'T KILL THE SQUIRREL! | New game for iPad

Join Our Leader Board Competition and WIN!

Friday Squirrel caption contest…go

This weeks Friday Squirrel caption contest was an easy pic for...

Distracted driving is more than texting. This distracted driving...

Photo

Put the Phone Down: April Is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Photo

Peruzzi Mitsubishi Quakertown PA: Teen girls twice as likely to use cell phones while driving as teen boys

Friday’s Squirrel Caption Contest- Bring Em’

mistress-of-disaster: It’s time to “Put it Down” Drivers simply...

It’s time to “Put it Down”

Drivers simply can’t do two things at once. Period.Mistress of Disaster: One call can change everything

Friday Squirrel Caption Contest. Go!

Check out our Distracted Driving is NUTS! Campaign Flyer as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

Warning Label Games teams up with leading anti-distracted driving non-profit Impact Teen Drivers

Don't Kill the Squirrel! - Now Available in the App Store!!

Buckle Up! Our game has been approved!

Distracted Driving Stats

We’re on GameTrailers.com!

Watch out on the roads! If we weren’t driving we’d text you that our game is off to Apple

Distracted Driving is a Factor in 80% of Crashes

Friday Squirrel Caption Contest - GO!

Drivers simply can’t do two things at once. Period.

Mistress of Disaster: One call can change everything