A new online video game promoting a GCSE Science qualification has had more than one million hits in the week since its launch.

Eruption Disruption was created by viral game specialists Koko Digital on Monday, and is already outperforming its predecessor Reach for the Sky, which received over 650,000 hits in its first week.

Players take the role of a scientist, who is trying to collect weather samples in his plane while negotiating volcanic ash clouds. If they get too close to the cloud, their windscreen is covered in ash and their engine starts to seize up.

Koko Digital Director Chris Steele said: "The early response to Eruption Disruption has been encouraging - even better than Reach for the Sky, our last viral project for OCR, which has received over 9 million hits since its launch in December 2008."

Both games were created for leading awarding body OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations) to raise awareness of their qualifications among teachers, students and parents, divert traffic to the organisation's website, and capture prospect data.

OCR Digital Marketing Manager Michelle Hughes said: "Eruption Disruption is an ideal way to launch our new GCSE Science specifications, and using a volcanic ash cloud fitted this perfectly, as air quality is one of the areas covered.

"We needed to ensure the game was fun to play but also showed how the ash cloud can affect airlines in a simple fashion.

"Koko Digital have created a visually stimulating game, which promotes the topical and modern elements of science in an engaging way."

Koko Digital was established by directors Chris Steele, Karl Bloor and Stuart Howarth in 2006 to create viral advergames and social media applications. They have worked with a number of blue-chip clients including Red Bull, Sony Music and Cancer Research UK.