Of the three sites we were to explore this week, Games for Change was the most addictive. Over the course of a few lost hours, I:
• Tried to keep Fred alive in “Code Fred: Survival Mode” (without much luck, as it turned out)
• Learned about some really dumb ways to die in a game that was ostensibly about the dangers surrounding trains
• Ended the civil war in Syria three times in “Endgame: Syria” (the rebels were unceremoniously routed the first time; in the second game I was forced into a lousy power-sharing deal with the regime; and by the third game I had mastered things well enough that I think the rebels could have won outright, but it was about suppertime so I opted for a U.N.-brokered peace)
The games were fun to explore, especially since I’m not a gamer, but I wonder how truly effective these games are at affecting social change. Games are definitely addictive and spreadable, so I can see how they can become an effective tool of social activists in the future. But at the moment, most of the games on Games for Change seem to have a limited audience.
Mike,
I agree with you that most of the games on Games for Change have a limited audience. I think that teachers could use these games in classes to hook kids into a topic and keep them engaged. These games are only spreadable if the players care. I am not too sure if kids would download any of these games on their own. I did notice that the games are always part of a larger spreadability campaign, so I guess it is expected to reach a specific type of audience.
I thought they were addictive too! and i never seen this tool, which is games, used in social change before, so it’s really interesting. But how did you know that it has a very limited audience so far? do you know of a way to make these games more spreadable?
Hopefully you won’t stop the flow of such magical material! ταχυδακτυλουργός για παιδικά πάρτυ
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