“AgoraXchange is anOnline community for designing a massive multi-player global politics game challenging the violence and inequality of our present political system. Phase I was launched as a commission for the Tate Online on 15 March 2004 and now contains a database of ideas for the rules, game environment, and site look-and-feel.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Natalie Bookchin y Jacqueline Stevens
YEAR: 2004
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.agoraxchange.net/
(Source: agoraxchange.org)
“Step into the world where food is often scarce and difficult decisions have to be made every day.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Oxfam America
YEAR: 2007?
INFO: Online interactive media, free
PLAY: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/flash/a-seat-at-the-table
(Source: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/multimedia/flash/a-seat-at-the-table)
“Global Kids has established itself as an innovative leader in using online games to promote global awareness and engaged citizenship. Through the Playing 4 Keeps program, Global Kids trains urban youth to develop games about important world issues.” “The youth chose to design a game that focuses on the issue of poverty as an obstacle to education and uses the country of Haiti as a case study. The game and its associated curriculum were released through UNICEF’s Child Alert: Haiti website and TakingITGlobal’s network of over 170,000 educators worldwide. Curriculum material is available for educators. Since it was released in October 2006, hundreds of thousands of people have played Ayiti. The game and the after school component are being evaluated by the Center for Children and Technology.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Global Kids Youth, GameLab, UNICEF, and TakingITGlobal, among others
YEAR: 2006
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://ayiti.globalkids.org/game/
(Source: gamesforchange.org)
“Crossroads Village allows the player to take on the role of a relief organization in dealing with world hunger and other third world crises. In the game, the player manages the relief effort in a village after a disaster, acquiring resources, rebuilding infrastructure, and helping villagers learn new skills. The game is designed to inspire a sense of empathy, while educating the player of the issues and making them aware that they can make a difference. Ultimately the game hopes to promote altruism and action in the form of real-world monetary donations.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Gel. Michigan State University
YEAR:
INFO: Persuasive Real-time strategy game (by request)
PLAY: http://gel.msu.edu/crossroadsvillage/
(Source: http://gel.msu.edu/crossroadsvillage/)
“Serious game to explain the problem of Palu desease. The player drive a sccoter and must cross the african savane to distribute mosquito nets.”
“The challenge: race the sun and hand out as many insecticide-treated bed nets as you can to African families. The more virtual nets you deliver – before the mosquitoes come out – the more lives you save.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: United Nations Foundation
YEAR: 2008
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.nothingbutnets.net/its-easy-to-help/game.html
(Source: serious.gameclassification.com)
“Supported by the World Bank and designed by Jane McGonigal, this 10 week experience that took place between March, 2010 and ended on May 12th, involved players all over the world working together to solve problems that affect the globe and specific regions in Africa. As the weekly game episodes unfolded, players were asked to dive deeper into real-world social issues and use that knowledge to create better solutions and use their creativity to envision a better future and human condition. In addition to collaborating on solutions, players were asked to create blogs, videos and photo galleries to share their experience with the Evoke community. Players used teamwork and “powers” to solve problems such as world hunger, empowering women and creating better access to clean water.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: World Bank Institute/Jane Mc Gonigal
YEAR: 2010
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.urgentevoke.com/
(Source: gamesforchange.org)
“Since its release in 2005, WFP’s video game to teach children about the logistical challenges of delivering food aid in a major humanitarian crisis has been downloaded over 6 million times, and has an estimated network of 10 million players worldwide!
Set on a fictitious island called Sheylan riven by drought and war, Food Force invites children to complete six virtual missions that reflect real-life obstacles faced by WFP in its emergency responses both to the tsunami and other hunger crises around the world.
With tens of thousands of Sheylan’s residents displaced and in urgent need of food aid, players are required to pilot helicopters on reconnaissance missions, airdrop high energy biscuits to internally displaced person (IDP) camps, negotiate with armed rebels on a food convoy run and use food aid to help rebuild villages.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Deepend and Playerthree for the United Nations World Food Programme
YEAR: 2005
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.wfp.org/how-to-help/individuals/food-force
(Source: http://www.wfp.org/how-to-help/individuals/food-force)
“Want to study for the GRE and feed the hungry at the same time? Thanks to the United Nations’ new website Free Rice, you can.The website is part of the organization’s World Food Program and asks participants to play a simple vocabulary definition game. For every word correctly defined, 20 grains of rice are donated to theWFP by one of the website’s advertising sponsors. The sponsor’s ads are displayed at the bottom of the page and alternate with each new word. That’s it- no sign ups, no strings, just free vocabulary practice and a warm-fuzzy feeling of goodness all in one website.Since the site’s Oct. 7 launch, nearly 8 billion grains of rice have been donated. According to a Truman State University article those connected to Free Rice attribute much of its growth to social networking websites (over 100 Facebook groups have been created in honor of the website) and other word of mouth facets that is the blogosphere. The Free Rice vocabulary game has a difficuly levels ranging from one to 50 that adjust automatically to a player’s answers.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: John Breen
YEAR: 2007
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1533
(Source: utownblog.wordpress.com)
“ “Global Conflicts” is an award-winning educational game series used for teaching citizenship, geography, and media courses.
The series allows students to explore and learn about different conflicts throughout the world and the underlying themes of democracy, human rights, globalization, terrorism, climate and poverty. The game series is easy to use for teachers and is developed with close attention to curriculum requirements and ease of use in classroom teaching.
Let your students experience what they usually only read about….”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Serious Games Interactive
YEAR: 2008
INFO: Online, 20 days-free trial for teachers. Single user 9,95 EUR. Class set (30 users) 49,95 EUR. School set (+250 users) 79,95 EUR
“In this village a few are prosperous, but most struggle with hunger and poverty. You are Esha, a young girl who belongs to a poor family. Your mother Sabitri’s dearest wish is to somehow acquire a goat. A goat would provide your family with milk and the means of making money, which would allow you to go to school.
For those not familiar with Heifer, the organization’s approach is to donate a goat, cow, chickens, or other domestic farm animals to families living in poverty. The animals become a source of income and nutrition to the family and the the recipients are also required to Pass on the Gift by donating offspring to other families. “
(Source: missiontolearn.com)
“Inside the Haiti Earthquake is an online simulation that allows users to experience the aftermath of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake as a survivor, aid worker or journalist. The game is the online companion to the Inside Disaster Haiti documentary.
Inside the Haiti Earthquake is designed to challenge assumptions about relief work in disaster situations. This is not a game. Nobody is keeping score. By playing the role of an aid worker, journalist and survivor, you will be given the opportunity to commit to various strategies, and experience their consequences.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: PTV Productions, Inc.
YEAR: 2010
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.insidedisaster.com/experience/Main.html
(Source: gamesforchange.org)
“When no one else is available to get on-the-ground reports from Darfur, you’re the person they call. Explore various villages and campsites to understand the people, explore the history and culture, and investigate the source of the hostilities in Darfur.
Created by Butch & Sundance Media, a cross media collective in Amsterdam, On the Ground Reporter Darfur is the first game in the “On the Ground Reporter” series (A Dutch-language only Afghanistan version has recently been released). This game was funded in part by Free Press Unlimited, an international organization that focuses on strengthening the capacity of local media professionals and NCDO, a Dutch advisory center for citizenship and international cooperation.
By creating a game that uses real “on the ground” footage and a narrative built on a point and click adventure game, players gain a first hand look at some of the root causes of hostilities in Darfur. And by exploring different areas in each level, players are invited to interact with locals and discover the history of West Sudan. The information they uncover could turn into a rich and compelling news story. The game challenges players to make judgment calls based on their data gathering but also to put their lives on the line to find out critical details.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Butch and Sundance Media
YEAR: 2010
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.radiodabanga.org/darfurgame/english/index.html
(Source: gamesforchange.org)
“ “Play the News” is a web-based platform to bring interactive gaming elements to the online news media industry, and current event based classroom. Impact Games has created an engine to drive “Interactive News” mini games and community features that change news consumption from passive reading to active engagement. This ability to create a more compelling online news experience presents an opportunity to increase engagement metrics on many dimensions. The Platform is composed of three major components: a web based publishing tool, the interactive game modules, and a community gaming and commenting structure. While still a relatively short and casual experience the games allow for an experience that affects a deeper understanding of issues beyond the headlines. Building on the internationally acclaimed PeaceMaker interface the games integrate broader contextual background information, multiple perspectives, and allow users to role-play critical players in the news.
The games are unique and easy for users to share and embed (like a youtube video). The platform’s publishing tools allow quick, easy, and economical repackaging of existing content into an interactive layer in order to address breaking issues in real-time. The community profile and gaming elements promote tracking stories over time, broader content consumption, and engage users in the building of their own social political profile in relation to current events. ImpactGames created content on a near daily basis from April to October 2008 in a “newsroom 2.0” format. Through this period the company was able to track usage statistics that validated the engagement and value proposition.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Impact Games
YEAR: 2008
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.playthenewsgame.com/portal/home.action
(Source: gamesforchange.org)
“Race Against Global Poverty is an interactive educational quiz game from DFID. Aimed at young people aged 11 to 16, the online game makes learning about the developing world fun and stimulating.
Featuring attractive animation and animal characters, it increase players’ understanding of development through questions about world poverty and DFID’s work to tackle it. The game is one of a range of activities that DFID is providing to young people to raise their awareness of development issues and get them involved in the fight against poverty.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: DFID (Department for International Development)
YEAR: 2008
INFO: Online, free. “Also available as a free teaching resource on CD Rom. To request a free teaching pack, call 01375 484 541, email dfidpubs@ecgroup.co.uk using the reference RAGP8.”
PLAY: http://raceagainstglobalpoverty.direct.gov.uk/
[May not be online any longer]
(Source: webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk)
“The documentary Garbage Dreams goes inside the world of Egypt’s Zaballeen (Arabic for “garbage people”). The Garbage Dreams Recycling game invites players to take on the role of the Zaballeen, who impressively recycle 80% of the trash they collect.
Take on the Role of the Zaballeen. Start with one neighborhood, one factory, and one hungry goat. You have 8 months to build your recycling empire and get Cairo’s total recycling as high as you can.
Can you be as eco-savvy as the Zaballeen?”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Duane Dunfield, Mai Iskander, Jeremy Bernstein, Kevin Kulp, Sean Nadeau, Alex Court
YEAR: 2010
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/garbage-dreams/game.html
(Source: gamesforchange.org)
