Key Takeaways
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Two 17-year-old students designed Tumor Tactics, an educational card game that helps kids understand cancer biology.
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The game uses mechanics from popular trading card games to explain complex concepts like chemotherapy side effects and tumor relapse.
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The creators formed a nonprofit to run workshops in San Diego schools, creating a safe space for children to process their own family experiences with cancer.
Demystifying disease through play
When Daniel Zhang was just nine years old, his grandmother was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer. Spending months visiting her in the hospital, he struggled to understand why the chemotherapy that was supposed to heal her made her lose her hair and grow weaker. Years later, when his grandfather received a similar diagnosis, Zhang saw the same confusion in his seven-year-old sister’s eyes.
Determined to translate the complexities of cancer into something a child could grasp, the 17-year-old teamed up with his classmate, Zachary Tou, to create an educational card game called Tumor Tactics. Inspired by the mechanics of popular trading card games like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, players take on the role of doctors tasked with curing lung, colon, and skin cancers before their opponents.
The game brilliantly balances engaging gameplay with scientific accuracy. Players can use various treatment cards, but must navigate realistic medical challenges. For instance, rolling a die determines the effectiveness of chemotherapy, and players might have to skip a turn to simulate the side effects of recovery. Tumors can also progress or relapse, forcing kids to think critically about the risks and tradeoffs of different treatments.
To ensure the game remained factually sound, the teens collaborated with their science teachers, their physician and immunologist parents, and healthcare professionals from major medical institutions. After nearly 20 iterations, Tumor Tactics has evolved into a student-led nonprofit that hosts workshops for kindergarten through eighth-grade students across San Diego.
During these sessions, Zhang and Tou have been moved by how the game helps children open up. Many students have used the workshops as a safe space to share their own family experiences with the disease, finding comfort in understanding the science behind the illness and discovering they are not alone in their journeys.
