Every year the Breakthrough T1D community rallies together for JDRF One Walk® events that take place across the U.S. and even abroad. Dedicated families, friends and companies raise money to improve the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and while Breakthrough T1D One Walk is the largest T1D event in the world, it has always been our place to celebrate those living with T1D and the research advancements we’ve all worked together to achieve.
Now more than ever, we need to find creative ways to continue coming together to celebrate our community and move our mission forward. Like many organizations, COVID-19 has challenged us, but we’re taking on this challenge and setting out to do things that have never been done before! For the first time ever, the Breakthrough T1D community is setting out to walk a collective 1.6 million miles and raise $50 million dollars to find a cure in the Breakthrough T1D National One Walk®. We were excited to launch integrated fitness tracking for our participants in August, and look forward to sharing our virtual Finish Line Festival slated to open on Nov. 1, but perhaps most exciting of all, we can’t wait to invite you to Breakthrough T1D’s first ever video game: Breakthrough T1D One World!
Breakthrough T1D One World is a virtual world built inside the popular online game Roblox that allows for education, celebration and, of course, play! It’s being created by Breakthrough T1D Game2Give in partnership with people in the video game industry with T1D connections.
But Breakthrough T1D One World is more than just a game—it’s also an opportunity to create connections between family members, friends, and classmates. We’ve made it a place where everyone can both belong and commit to supporting what we all want: a world without T1D.
When this launches on November 1, your first experience in the Breakthrough T1D One World is a virtual Breakthrough T1D One Walk inside the game for you to enjoy with friends and family, virtually! Just like in a traditional walk, we’ll have a fun walk route, educational tents, and a V1P tent. But in Breakthrough T1D One World you’ll also get to play games, go on a scavenger hunt, and meet with friends to explore. And you might even bump into JDRF’s President & CEO, Dr. Aaron Kowalski or Rufus, the Bear with Diabetes®!
To visit Breakthrough T1D One World, you need to set up a free Roblox account on your computer, phone, or tablet. (If you’re not sure how to do this, your kids can probably show you—Roblox is the #1 game site for kids and teens.) Accounts are free, although you can buy upgrades for your character, such as tee shirts and hairstyles. But it’s not necessary to buy anything, since Breakthrough T1D One World will be free to play and enjoy. Check out this tutorial for help setting up an account and customizing your character.
Once you’ve created your character, visit this page and click the Play button. (This button will show up when the game launches on November 1; until then, you can bookmark the page and click the Favorite and Follow icons so it’s easy to find.) If you haven’t played a Roblox game before, you’ll be prompted to download and install the Roblox app the first time.
While the Breakthrough T1D One Walk is the first event happening in this new virtual space, it’s only the beginning. The world will stay online for all of National Diabetes Awareness Month and beyond, so you and your kids can come back and spend time there whenever you want. Be on the lookout for more ways to connect and discover as Breakthrough T1D One World grows and grows.
For answers to common questions about Roblox and Breakthrough T1D One World, read our FAQ.
