The BBC has entered the world of Roblox with the launch of BBC Wonder Chase.

Roblox is a free-to-play online game platform and game creation system that allows users to program and play games created by themselves or other users.

BBC Wonder Chase is billed as a vibrant world, featuring some of the biggest BBC shows like Doctor Who, Match of the Day, EastEnders, and The Next Step. It will also feature some of the BBC’s most famous faces – including Gary Lineker, Zara McDermott, Louis Theroux, Hacker T Dog, and the Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor.

Players of the mini games can collect BBC iPlayer-themed coins, learn interesting nature facts and complete tricky obstacle courses. Along the way, they can challenge themselves to find and collect limited edition stickers or chat with pals on their friends list while watching clips from some of their favourite BBC shows in the cinema area.

The new BBC Wonder Chase experience aims to reach young people where they are and bring the BBC to them. Roblox is enormously popular with younger audiences, and is used by over 71 million people every day. The experience is free on Roblox, and available on PC, mobile (iOS, Android), PlayStation and Xbox.

Patricia Hildalgo, BBC Director of Children’s and Education, says: “As the children’s media landscape is constantly evolving, we want to meet kids wherever they are. We know Roblox is hugely popular with children and we’re giving them the chance to interact and play with their favourite CBBC shows and characters, and discover more to love from across the BBC.”

The BBC Wonder Chase journey begins in Wonder Central, a fantastical city set on the water. Players will run into documentarians Louis Theroux and Zara McDermott, have a laugh with CBBC’s Hacker T Dog, or a red nose game from Comic Relief. From Wonder Central, they can also find portals to other parts of the experience – including:

Total Sport – a collection of sporty islands people can adventure around, surrounded by giant inflatables and activities, where they can meet and chat to Match of the Day stars Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer.

Deep Space Zone – an otherworldly planet where people will find Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday as well as a mischievous goblin.

Tiny Planet – here people will enter an English country garden, but they’ll be the size of a bug! An interactive space for fun and learning about nature, and where players can chat to some of the BBC’s best known nature presenters, including Liz Bonnin and CBBC’s Deadly 60’s Steve Backshall.

Festival Park – a celebration of music, art and culture all set in a chilled out, magical festival. People can find and chat to Michelle, Kenzie and Eldon from the hit CBBC show The Next Step, or visit the BBC News rave tent.

BBC Wonder Chase world will evolve across the coming year with new content added and new worlds developed.

The experience was made by the BBC with Bristol based games developer Mobile Pie. The BBC has also used a number of accessibility tools for the experience, which are available on the Roblox platform. This includes the option to stop or pause motion such as grass or wind to reduce animations for those who may find them distracting. There is built-in support for Adaptive Controllers for people using PlayStation or Xbox, plus the ability to change what the buttons do so that users can control their experience. And there is a feature where users can automate a double jump, a key action, to help those who may have issues tapping twice in quick succession.

To find BBC Wonder Chase, go to Roblox and search for BBC Wonder Chase.