Bold Donut was founded by Nathan and Kate. The idea first came from Nathan when looking into the efficacy of demand flexibility campaigns in shifting energy customer behaviours. From this seed, they began to look into the need to frame climate action and a sustainable future in a more positive and engaging way. With the aim to make sustainability more positive and engaging, they decided that digital games in the style of Candy Crush (downloaded more than 2 billion times) were the right medium. Games like these are enjoyed by a large number of people across demographics, they can be played "on-the-go" and can be both relaxing and challenging.

Since then, Bold Donut has launched two customisable digital games:

• Our Waste Game - focusing on 'what goes in what bin', establishes players baseline knowledge, provides instant feedback, and actively engages players in the 'boring topic' of waste segregation in a meaningful and fun way.

• Our Energy Game - designed to educate players on energy use in the home, demand flexibility and grid-friendly behaviours. The game features fun mechanics that simulate daily electricity use.

Our games are licensed to organisations who are looking for new and exciting ways to engage their audiences, be they employees, students or customers, on specific sustainability topics and behaviours.

First launched in 2023, our waste game has not only been part of Ireland's national waste campaign "Take a Minute, Before You Bin It," but also as part of employee engagement campaigns in consultancies, banks, universities and colleges. The game is designed using behaviour change frameworks to actively engage players in waste segregation and reuse. To check out our Waste Game case studies - click here.

Following the success of our waste game, in 2024, Bold Donut partnered with ESB Networks, the ‘Is This a Good Time?’ programme to deliver our first game for the energy sector. ESB Networks build, maintain and operate the electricity network across Ireland. They were looking to engage thousands of households across Ireland in order to increase participation in demand response initiatives and increase general energy literacy. To check out our Energy Game Case Study with ESB Networks, click here.