“Help rescue kids from carpet sheds in India.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: commissioned by Christian Aid UK
YEAR:
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/games/carpetgame/index.htm
(Source: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/resources/games/play.aspx)
“More than 25.000 children have been abducted to serve as child soldiers in local armies in Uganda. Why is this happening and how can justice best be ensured? You arrive in Uganda on a dry and dusty road. You work for the International Criminal Court and are sent on an assignment in Uganda, to meet with the feared leader of the rebel Lord´s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. Two decades of brutal civil war betwen government forces and the LRA has driven 1,7 million people into camps. Since 2006, the Ugandans have tried to negotiate peace with Kony. Now the ICC has put out arrest warrants for him but he refuses to talk peace. Can you make him change his mind?”
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
PLAY: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/promote?productId=1000008&hash=440f898cffb8a955f883212d3ecdb7d8d63f1b03
(Source: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/products)
“A native girl has vanished from a farm in the Bolivian countryside. Searching for her it dawns on you that something on this farm is terribly wrong. Your mission is to investigate this case of the missing girl that lived on a hacienda suspected of debt slavery. During the mission you will learn about the situation in Bolivia, and how many natives (Guarani Indians) are being exploited as a cheap work force by the ruling class.”
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
PLAY: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/promote?productId=1000004&hash=8e8efbb7cfbe420345411051e941c9d75e9342b3
(Source: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/products)
“Taking the role of an enslaved African American (either male or female) in the southern United States during 1830, the player must try escaping a plantation and get to one of the free northern states.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: MECC (the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium)
YEAR: 1992
INFO: Online (after installation of available Apple software), free
PLAY: http://www.virtualapple.org/mecc-freedom.html
(Source: mobygames.com)
“According to the developers, LAYOFF uses a simple casual game paradigm to comment on the current state of the US financial crisis. Both friends and strangers face tough times in an unstable economy. Part dark humor, part grim portent, this game places the player in the position of financier. In other words – you have to match three and let them go. It’s tough out there, but it might be fun in here. Unless you just got fired, like half of the globe’s population – if you were, then Layoff might be depressing for you.
But, hey! At least you’ll learn some facts while playing. Here’s an example: “Adjust for inflation, the federal bailout of $8.5 trillion is more expensive than every war the US has ever fought, the Louisiana Purchase, the Marshall Plan, the New Deal, and the Nasa Space Program COMBINED.” Scary, right?“
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Tiltfactor Laboratory and the Rochester Institute of Technology/Mary Flanagan Based on the initial idea of Angela Ferraiolo
YEAR: 2009
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.tiltfactor.org/play-layoff
(Source: unigamesity.com)
“Close to the Mexican-American border a Maquiladora has closed recently. Why does the union fight against the workers and who will be held responsible for the polluted river? Your mission is to investigate these problems with the maquiladoras - factories close to the Mexican-American border. The factories are owned by international corporations that take advantage of the less strict regulations in order to produce cheap commodities particulary for the American market. During the course of the mission you will encounter problems relating to labor legislations and pollution.”
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
PLAY: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/promote?productId=1000006&hash=90a7615452169a214b224495168fc0990cc0900e
(Source: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/products)
“Maria has immigrated to the United States in search of a better job. She has gotten a job in a chip manufacturing plant in Silicon Valley, home of a booming economy. However, inside the factory, things are not always clean. Workers are exposed to toxic chemicals and are often not informed of the potential hazards. Information about the chemicals can be found in the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), but finding the sheets can be a challenge!”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Global Arcade
YEAR: 2000-2004
INFO: Online, free
“Global corporations are merging at a frenzied pace, each hoping to dominate the world markets in their industry. The larger corporations push out smaller, local businesses which have roots in the communities they operate in, replacing them with centrally controlled, unaccountable operations around the world. Mergers are often accompanied by excitement in the media and Wall Street, yet result in closed factories and layoffs, and contrary to the original hype, financial difficulties for an extended time. In order to return to profitibility, the merged corporation must crush the competition (if it wasn’t the competition that the company originally merged with), eliminate high-paying jobs in favor of low-cost labor, skirt environmental and social obligations, and maximize corporate welfare.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Global Arcade
YEAR: 1999 - 2004
INFO: Online, free
“Want to teach science the fun way? Oil Strike is an exciting, interactive game for 14-16 year olds, based on the extraction and processing of oil. The aim of the game is to make money (and top up your science knowledge along the way!). Players choose where to build refineries, what type of rig to erect and how to transport the oil. At each stage of the game, decisions are made by weighing up the benefits (e.g. low costs and high chances of finding oil) against the risks (e.g. political and environmental instabilities and the likelihood of spillage). Costs can be cut by correctly answering questions on hydrocarbon chemistry. There are also options to learn more about the entire oil refinery process.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: World Archipelago for RCI advancing the chemical sciences
YEAR: 2008?
INFO: Online, free
PLAY: http://www.rsc-oilstrike.org/
(Source: memory4teachers.co.uk)
“Phone Story is a game for smartphone devices that attempts to provoke a critical reflection on its own technological platform. Under the shiny surface of our electronic gadgets, behind its polished interface, hides the product of a troubling supply chain that stretches across the globe. Phone Story represents this process with four educational games that make the player symbolically complicit in coltan extraction in Congo, outsourced labor in China, e-waste in Pakistan and gadget consumerism in the West.
Keep Phone Story on your device as a reminder of your impact. All of the revenues raised go directly to workers’ organizations and other non-profits that are working to stop the horrors represented in the game.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Molleindustria
YEAR: 2011
INFO: Smartphones, free
PLAY: http://www.phonestory.org/
(Source: http://www.phonestory.org/)
“Many of the clothes available in our high street shops have been manufactured in sweatshops, factories that routinely pay their workers less than the minimum wage, and prevent the formation of unions to campaign for better working conditions.
Sweatshop is a light-hearted game, but it’s based upon very present realities that many workers around the world contend with each day.
Littleloud and Channel 4 worked with experts on sweatshops to integrate some of these realities into the game design.
In addition, there are numerous facts and figures spread throughout the game, highlighting the plight of the workers who may well have made the clothes you are wearing today.
Read on for more information about the truths behind Sweatshop (with the relevant sources). Visit sites such as Labour Behind the Label, War On Want, Fairtade and No Sweat if you’d like to get involved in campaigns to improve the plight of workers around the globe.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: Littleloud
YEAR: 2011
INFO: Online, free
“Around 4,9 million children in the age 5-14 years are working in Bangladesh. Child labour is a part of a vicious cycle, with poverty as a main cause as well as a main consequence. Why are these children working and what are their alternatives?
You arrive in Bangladesh to investigate a case of child labour in a tannery in the nations capital, Dhaka. You work for the European Leatherwear Industries. A couple of days ago, you received an e-mail from a woman that claims she has spoken to a girl that works in the tannery. You have to investigate the case and find proof of child labour as well as coming up with a solution that will not damage the tannery or your company. Should you stop buying leather form the factory knowing that it will probably shut down? The more information you gather, the better you stand in the final interview with the factory owner. ”
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
PLAY: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/promote?productId=1000009&hash=f3ab60132044e22276bbba7c324fc903f2628477
(Source: http://www.globalconflicts.eu/images/factsheet/1000009.pdf)
“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)
“Windfall: The Oil Crisis Game is a real-time business simulation game developed by David Mullich in 1980 for the Apple II. Based uponqueuing theory and released after the 1979 energy crisis, the game puts the player in the role of chief executive of Engulf Oil, setting gas prices and worker salaries, monitoring gas station lines, scheduling oil tanker arrivals, and negotiating oil prices with OPEC countries in a race against the clock to maximize profits. As with most Edu-Ware games, Windfall has an educational aspect, demonstrating the delicate balance in complex systems.”
DEVELOPER/DESIGNER: David Mullich, Edu-Ware (U.S.A.).
YEAR: 1980
INFO: Downloadable, free
PLAY: http://serious.gameclassification.com/EN/games/1885-Windfall-The-Oil-Crisis-Game/index.html
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windfall:_The_Oil_Crisis_Game)
