Games Worth Playing

Take a look at http://www.eschoolnews.com/ for an inventory of research on the effectiveness of sismulation games in education. I just joined 2nd Life and am trying to figure out how to get clothes on my Avatar, but after I do, I am looking forward to checking out the school and college lectures avaialbe there.

Hi Patrick:

Really nice to see you hereabouts

and thanks for the pointers to research on games in education.

I've alerted me Second Life friends that I'm on the lookout for edu- and socially-relevant relevant SL addresses, and will post more as I learn more

but meanwhile, here's a note re education in SL:

http://secondlife.com/education/

and a listing of colleges and ither organizations in SL:

http://simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Institutions_and_Organizations_in_SL

One thing that might be helpful for educators (and others) in SL is the communal whiteboard:

http://metalab.blogspot.com/2006/06/communal-whiteboard.html secondlife://Gourdneck/205/191/724

More soon! And thanks again.

Just a brief note to say the formatting of my post above, with some sections in bold face, was not my intention, but seems to have been an artifact of the way this blog is set up. My apologies.

The full website for research on games and learning is http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/Differentiated_Learning/index.cfm

There's such great possibilities for using games to engage people in issues related to social change.

We're currently working on Teach A Man To Fish: The Game, a Sim City style game where individuals get to try to run an entrepreneurial school - one that uses profit-making school businesses as a platform for teaching entrepreneurship and livelihood skills.

With a fixed amount of land and resources, should you set up a poultry unit, plant it with vegetables or set up a fruit processing unit? Designing the game challenges us to recognize explicitly the constraints and possiblities of our model for transforming education in developing countries.

Playing the game at the very least should prove an education in business for players - and ideally reinforce in them the merits of our own approach.

I look forward to seeing what other games are in the works out there!

Nik

http://www.teachamantofish.org.uk

Thanks, Nik.

Here are some other games that may be of interest to you and others reading along here:

Ayiti: the Cost of Life simulates life in Haiti. In Oxfam's Refugee you play a refugee fleeing a drought. Last Exit Flight also explores the problems facing refugees, as does the Norwegian Asylum Game, in which migrants trying to reach Norway from Liberia and Iran. Third-World Farmer bills itself as a "thought-provoking simulation".Tropical America, the only survivor of a massacre searches for the evidence that will bring justice to their village.

On the health front, Metalloman is a superhero game about the science of the human body. NanoSwarm is a game about Diabetes Education. In Re-Mission the player is a robot fighting cancer. In Whyville – an online world whose citizens also learn art history, journalism, civics, and economics

an outbreak of Whypocks forces the children of Whyville to learn enough science to end the epidemic.

I'm a big believer in games, they break down some of the barriers people have to new ideas, and also work well with people who don't respond to so much of the head-stuff (oral or visual presentations).

I used to use a game for illustrating the way money works, and then how a community currency would fit in to a depressed economy.

http://www.mitra.biz/lets-pretend.htm

and I've also compiled some of the games I used (or participated in) when working with groups in situations like retreats where the goal is partly to get them working together as teams.

I believe that the real key is picking the right game for the group - how well do they know each other already, what kinds of activities are they comfortable with, where is the edge that the right game will help them step over, but the wrong game will either be boring or too confronting.

I'm interested in checking out other games that, like the community currency game, teach particular social or environmental concepts.

• Mitra

Hello again, Mitra, it's nice to see you here.

>>> I'm interested in checking out other games that, like the community currency game, teach particular social or environmental concepts. <<<

You're making me think of something that's been in the back of my mind for a while now, to do with the $100 computers that MIT and others are building for the "developing world" market

but I'll save the details for a separate post.

I'm entirely with you on the way in which games can open up areas that people otherwise have trouble accessing

they're also great for ice-breaking in Rl and online conferences. My own HipBone Games have been used in that way (among others).

I'm also intrigued by your formulation that the right game will be one thats neither boring nor too confronting

because it puts the "right" game squarely in the heart of Csikszentmihalyi's notion of Flow.

good stuff! Most of the the games I mention here have already been mentioned, but there was a really good session on Games for Good at this month's Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington DC: Here are some of my notes from that session, FYI...

"The coolest thing I experienced was in the Video Games for Social Change session, where one of the presenters made his presentation and answered questions from the virtual world of Second Life. Some of the video games discussed are also extremely impressive with incredible potential. For example there is a game to be launched on May 1st called www.icedgame.org that deals with immigration in the U.S. and moral issue around it. TheGame is meant to change thinking about immigration via realistic characters that have real back stories… Playters must navigate an urban environment and avoid “getting in trouble”. You get to make choices for them find out what happens to them as they face unlimited detention and get deported, etc. The game is done with a youth audience in mind and meant to educate in a dynamic and interactive way. The game creators collaborated directly with undocumented youth as well as organizations that work with undocumented and other immigrants to make the game. Characters based on real life characters. Another cool game worth checking out is www.thecostoflife.org. Created entirely by low income youth of color at New York City’s Global Kids, allows players to take responsibility for a family of five in rural Haiti.

For more information on Second Life, and good social and educational games therein, check out this discussion we did last October:

http://www.socialedge.org/discussions/social-entrepreneurship/second-life-and-the-social-sector/?searchterm=Second%20Life

Thanks, Paul.

I have a colleague in Europe who will be giving a tour of SL with emphasis on universities and education sites sometime soon

watch this space for details.

Just joined after listening to the notice on NPR. Thanks for the edulinks below. My university recently bought an island on 2Life and asked me to teach my visual communications course on it in the fall (email me (lester@fullerton.edu) your 2Life name and I'll put you on the list for access. Would appreciate any feedback. Best things. pml

That's terrific, Paul (Lester)!

What did you hear on NPR? I was unaware of a mention

something about SocialEdge in general, I guess -- or this particular discussion of games and social enterprise? Do you follow the TerraNova blog, which has some very topical materials on online game worlds and academia?

I'm in Palmdale, in the high desert above LA, we should definitely get together!

The NPR spot for SocialEdge was simply one of those sponsoring messages before the news headlines. I assumed from the national folks. School is in Fullerton. I live in Long Beach. Not that far from you. Semester is about done, but perhaps you could come out to speak to a class in the fall.

Hi there, is anyboy out there who knows about a game targeted at youngsters about hearing preservation/impairment?

Here's a thought: altruism.

It seems that games can among other things serve as case studies for the human motive to act unselfishly… The Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network (VATSIM) is a virtual world includes Air Traffic Control Centers along with simulated commercial flights – and as one commentator wrote: "I'd much rather fly a plane than instruct others how to land one! Add into the mix the exhaustive training regime controllers undergo, and there comes a sense of sacrifice or at least commitment."

Anything that can encourage altruism, sacrifice and commitment is surely worth our contemplation.

What thoughts do you have about cooperative games and altruism?

Many education support institutions have been creating on-line games to stimulate student learning in academic subjects and concepts. At http://tinyurl.com/ypd4b6 you can browse a list of homework help related sites.

At http://tinyurl.com/23m5yr are links to a section of the T/MC library with science, math and engineering sites and games.

I'm constantly adding to this library, and any of you can log into http://www.tutormentorconnection.org and submit a new link to the library, or rate the value and comment on existing links. In this manner we hope to help people find and use web site learning activities that other people feel are valuable.

I think that as we're talking about on-line games that teach social concepts and altruism, we also need to think of innovative ways to help young people and adults find these games, play them, and learn from them.

I know in my own experience that just having a great game on the Internet is not enough to motivate my kids to play the game frequently. Who is having success of building traffic to these sites?

Though I wouldn't call it a game, Real Lives is a wonderful simulation of what life can be like once you are born somewhere in the world.

Here's how we describe it on our web site:

It is a life simulation that gives you the opportunity to learn how people really live in other countries. Real Lives is a truly unique, content rich and empathy-building real world, real life simulation that challenges your life skills (not your hand-eye coordination) as you make difficult, high-stakes choices that lead to your success, or failure. Sean Trundle of Pop Matters said "It's packed with plenty of facts about the lives of people in each country, and there are links for users to follow to get more information if they want it. I've led about nine lives so far, and even though this software is designed for children I've learned a good deal about each place I lived, including the United States. From Australia to Uzbekistan, you can try walking in someone else's shoes for a while."

You can check it out at:

https://www.reachandteach.com/store/index.php?action=item&id=74

Peace, Craig Wiesner

World Without Oil, First Alternate Reality Game to Confront a Major Social Issue: A Worldwide Oil Shock

All Web Users Invited to Witness the Oil Shock, Document Their Experiences, Apply Collective Imagination to Solve a Real World Problem

The serious game for the public good begins April 30, at http://www.worldwithoutoil.org

"Play it - before you live it"

SAN FRANCISCO, April 30 /PRNewswire/

Everyone knows that "someday" the world may face an oil shortage. What if that day was sooner than you thought? What if it started today? How would your life change? PBS' Independent Lens and its Electric Shadows Web-original programming today launched WORLD WITHOUT OIL, a live interactive month-long alternate reality event to explore this very real possibility.

Produced by the design team at Writerguy, WORLD WITHOUT OIL is the first alternate reality game to enlist the Internet's vast collective intelligence and imagination to confront and attempt to solve a real-world problem: what happens when a great economy built entirely on cheap oil begins to run short? This grassroots experience looks at the impact on people's lives - work, social, family and personal - and explores what happens when our thirst for oil begins to exceed supply.

"Alternate reality gaming is emerging as the way for the world to imagine and engineer a best-case-scenario future," says WORLD WITHOUT OIL's participation architect, noted futurist Jane McGonigal. "It's been summed up this way: 'If you want to change the future, play with it first."

Beginning April 30, the nerve center for the realistic oil crisis is at http://www.worldwithoutoil.org , with links to citizen stories in blogs, videos, photos, audio and phone messages posted all over the Internet. At the grassroots website, people will learn the broad brushstrokes of the crisis, such as the current price of a gallon of gas or how widespread shortages are. Players will fill in the details, by creating Web documents that express their own perspectives from within the crisis. People of any age or Web ability can participate in the free event. Individuals are getting involved across the nation, and over 400 people have signed up to play.

"The alternate reality of WORLD WITHOUT OIL is not fantasy, it's a very real possibility," says Writerguy.

Creative Director Ken Eklund. "And the game challenge is one of imagination. No one person or small group can hope to figure out the complex rippling effects of an oil shock, but the collective imagination can. And understanding it is a serious, positive step toward preventing it."

WORLD WITHOUT OIL will challenge players and player communities to engage the creative and collaborative skills that will be tested in an oil shock, and to document their ideas on the web. The game will honor outstanding player contributions with WWO None-Ton Awards: offsets of one metric ton (2,204.6 lbs) of carbon dioxide, accomplished through increased energy efficiency implemented by CarbonFund.Org. The game will bestow a total of 100 such awards, making WORLD WITHOUT OIL a "carbon-neutral" effort. To assist middle and high school teachers who want to incorporate the game into class activities, the designers have established a web page:

http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/teach.

WORLD WITHOUT OIL is produced by the Writerguy team, and is a joint project of PBS' Independent Lens and its Electric Shadows Web-original programming.

Presented by Independent Lens and ITVS Interactive and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Electric Shadows sites explore the arts, culture and society through innovative forms and meet the ITVS mission of taking creative risks and advancing civic participation.

LiveWires Design in Canada has produced a CD-ROM game, Missing, which is based on the case of a boy who was lured into a sexually abusive situation. The game helps children learn to recognize the tactics a predator uses to lure his victims. To date, 3,000,000 children have played the game in the United States and Canada.

I'll be uploading information about each of the games mentioned here to the Resources Wiki, so if you have any other games you'd like to mention, now's the time...

Thanks.

Hello, We ran a review of the A Force More Powerful game in Peacework Magazine, http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/node/204. We attached a list of additional resources, many of which have been mentioned in this thread, but some of which have not:

Organizations Promoting Games for Social Change:

Serious Games Initiative; Games for Change; USC Center for Public Diplomacy Games Awards

Additional Games:

Peacemaker (simulating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict); The Climate Game; Third World Farmer; Food Force (trying to feed people after a disaster (a game created by the World Food Program)); Exchanging Cultures; Global Kids Island. (I tried pasting in these with their live links enabled, but it didn't work, so if you want these links, you'd need to surf to the list near the bottom of the page at http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/node/204. In Peace, Sam Diener Co-Editor Peacework Magazine

For your consideration, I developed a game which has been online for serveral years. In the game, you play as (become) an animal in an natural eco-system. The game is based on reality and it is real time and multi-user.

Alan Godsy www.WebEarthOnline.com

I think that often people confuse a "serious game" with edutainment. My understanding of this need breed of games is that the intention is to change attitudes, not to teach a skill. The Edutainment games of the past failed to take hold because they were not fun. Who really wants to play a game that teaches chemistry? Playing a Sudanese refugee who has to sneak past the Janjaweed is fun. Attitudes and awareness are changed toward the Sudanese who are suffering in the conflict while the player is having fun.

Unfortunately, most of the serious games that I have seen have been rather limited so far. I am looking forward to seeing the next generation of serious games that will go beyond Flash. There are a number of tools that make it cheap or even free for the average person to get into game development. I see a nacent "indie" industry that I hope will also develop serious games.

I am interested in developing a video game about what it means to be homeless. The player will have to keep alive on the streets of Detroit while trying work their way through the bureaucracy and into permanent housing.

I thoroughly enjoyed the article on gaming for social good. I am in the process of getting a gaming company off of the ground that takes a slightly different approach to social entrepreneurship. We are developing an online player universe that should generate significant profits. But a major percentage of those profits will be dedicated to social programs, including specifically funding orphanages.

I would be interested in any suggestions any of you might have on who would be interested in assisting such a venture. Victor d'Allant suggested I post the question here.

Hi Kenneth:

I would be very interested to learn more about what you're doing, and I imagine that goes for others here, too.

It's a vast topic, this business of the business of games, and I'm not quite sure where to begin since I know relatively little about you

so this is a bit of a short in the dark: please forgive me if I'm presenting the obvious...

I gather you're building a persistent world, right? Do you follow the discussions on the Terra Nova blog, http://terranova.blogs.com/ ? They range from cutting edge ideas about psychologically subtle NPCs (http://tinyurl.com/23vdsf) to questions of online ethics and security (http://tinyurl.com/25npkh) to market realities in Second life (http://tinyurl.com/2aj8f6) to what happens when user-created content outpaces user-presence (http://tinyurl.com/24uac2).

Please tell us a little more about your project

both the game design aspect, and your intention to siphon profits towards orphanages -- to the extent that you feel comfortable (and proprietorially covered) in doing so -- and I hope we can continue this conversation as we get to know more about each other, our respective interests, etc.

I'm just noticing Mike Sellers' recent Terra Nova post about Club Penguin, the "kid-friendly virtual world" - browser-based - " where children can play games, have fun and interact with each other":

> Club Penguin is, as you probably (or really should) know by now, a great example of a true second-generation MMOG. It's cute, cuddly, great for kids, and plays right in the browser (no dynamically mapped shadows in sight). It uses a combination of free play, subscription ($6/month), and item-based sales to generate revenue. Oh and there's no download, no retail, no spattered blood, blue elves, or female cat things overflowing their strangely armored bustiers. ... Personally, I think it's extremely heartening to see a game like this so clearly rewarded. The market is changing, and this is primary evidence for it: The audience demographic is broadening; the gameplay is breaking out of "kill monster, get gold;" graphics are moving beyond ponderous if ever-more realistic 3D; and development methods are finally moving beyond mis-applied rough extensions of what's (sort of) worked in single-player games. I don't think mainline/first-generation MMOGs are dead, but I do think this sort of value-recognition in Club Penguin is more of a bellwether than an anomaly. The dinosaurs aren't gone, but the small mammals (or well-dressed flightless birds, as the case may be) are starting to claim their due. <

http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/05/theres_goldin.html

What's more, a follow up post mentions a charitable aspect to their strategy, linking to this TechCrunch post:

> Club Penguin donates a significant portion of profits to charity and wants this policy to continue post-acquisition. <

Hm. Hmmmm. This sounds very promising...

Hello, We ran a review of the A Force More Powerful game in Peacework Magazine, http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/node/204. We attached a list of additional resources, many of which have been mentioned in this thread, but some of which have not:

Organizations Promoting Games for Social Change:

Serious Games Initiative; Games for Change; USC Center for Public Diplomacy Games Awards

Additional Games:

Peacemaker (simulating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict); The Climate Game; Third World Farmer; Food Force (trying to feed people after a disaster (a game created by the World Food Program)); Exchanging Cultures; Global Kids Island. (I tried pasting in these with their live links enabled, but it didn't work, so if you want these links, you'd need to surf to the list near the bottom of the page at http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/node/204. In Peace, Sam Diener Co-Editor Peacework Magazine

I've conducted research on using games for second language learning using Activeworlds (in the long ago, before Second Life-actually just a few years ago). I'm glad I found this resource. One of the frustrations I have is when learning is game-based for the sake of being game-based, not because it adds to the learning experience at all. In fact, sometimes it can be a hindrance to the content. All of the ones mentioned are excellent resources. I didn't even know about the Games for Change site. As someone who wants to use my ed tech skills to build good game-based learning, I was glad to have come across this. I remember how awesome it was to see the Darfur is Dying game-because it was a way to engage learners about a socially relevant topic. I would love to be able to develop something like this.