good games. good fun.
Our first game, Backpack Adventure, is a nature-themed Roblox experience that helps kids build real-world observation skills and environmental literacy through immersive, gamified play. Players explore biomes, find and record animals in their Explorer Book (bet you didn’t know that beavers have a set of clear eyelids that help them see underwater!?), and earn backpack patches as they progress.
With over 2 million visits and a 94% positive rating, Backpack Adventure exemplifies gaming for good—using play to spark curiosity, connect kids with nature, and foster environmental awareness.
History
Curious how the Backpack Adventure game came to be? The short answer: It was inspired by our founder, Kimberly’s twin daughters, Lydia and Zoe!
The long answer: Kimberly joined Storey Publishing, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, back in December of 2020 in the throes of the Covid pandemic. Her daughters were just about six years old and, like most kids, were spending significantly more time on screens than ever before. She found herself looking for ideas to keep them active and outside, and immediately fell in love with Storey’s Backpack Explorer Book Series. Taking long walks in the woods with Backpack Explorer scavenger hunt downloadables in hand!
Fast forward two years, Storey’s parent company, Hachette Livre, announced its inaugural Innovation Challenge aimed at tapping into the collective creativity of its global workforce. The competition offered thousands of employees across 200 imprints worldwide an opportunity to think big about how books could reach new audiences, with winners receiving funding to bring their ideas to life.
Meanwhile, as the pandemic progressed, her kiddos (and millions and millions more!) became increasingly enthralled with Roblox, spending many hours each week online. She thought, what if she could meet her kids where they are to build nature literacy and the idea for a backpack themed adventure was born!
Kimberly invited four of her Storey Publishing colleagues to join her in refining the idea, then pitched the concept to Hachette’s International Executive Committee in a Shark-Tank style setting—and the rest is history!
With funding in hand and a development partner selected, she set out to build the game. The Backpack Adventure game, was launched on Roblox in late 2023. Developed as a side project, in its first year the game garnered over a million visits.
Kimberly left Hachette and founded Goode Goode Studios in early 2025 to focus on cultivating nature curiosity in kids (and adults!) through online games, like the Backpack Adventure experience on Roblox.
A note about the name: goode (pronounced good-ē) is shorthand for good earth, it’s repeated for differentiation and as a nod to Kimberly’s twin daughters.