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Serious Games

Page history last edited by Caroline Hargreaves 11 months, 2 weeks ago

 

Summary

 

If there is anything that drives advances in computing power, it's games. Arguably, maturation of media technology can be reflected in how well it reflects the societies we live in. Most of the current online games are based on violent interpretations of reality (which also guarantees the success of the game) but increasing awareness of the influence of these applications on society has lead to a growing demand for online games and experiences based on equitable, sustainable development, conservation, cooperation, conflict transformation and peace. This emerging school is called 'Serious Games', and involves cutting-edge peacebuilding and humanitarian initiatives, aiming to bring attention to some of the world's most pressing problems, such as food scarcity, violent conflict and democratic deficit. The power of even a simple Flash based game on the web can kindle support for peace that may have otherwise been left out through traditional modes of political activism. Games are powerful educational tools because they can empower players to drive learning themselves, capturing the interest and intellect of a player in a very powerful and sustained way. Games can submerge players in a new context, creating prolonged and deeper feelings of empathy and mutual understanding. Below you will find a list of 'Serious Games' in alphabetical order. This section also features a list of resources for more information on 'Serious Games'.

 

The above summary is based on a number of blog posts featured in ICT4Peace, the personal blog of Sanjana Hattotuwa, who is also a Special Advisor to the ICT4Peace Foundation. 

 

 

Resources

Scroll down for more information on the following resources: 

 

  • 3rd World Farmer

  • 9/11 Virtual Reality PTSD Prototype

  • 13 at War

  • Behavior Challenge

  • Collapsus 

  • Conflict Resolution 

  • Darfur is Dying

  • Food Force

  • A Force More Powerful

  • Foreign Ground

  • Global Kids Island

  • The Homeless Experience (SPENT)

  • Madrid 

  • September 12

  • Suicide Bus Bomber Virtual Reality PTSD Prototype

  • Peace Maker

  • Water Alert 

  •  


      

3rd World Farmer

http://www.heavygames.com/3rdworldfarmer/showgame.asp

 

Players manage an African farm and are confronted with the difficult choices caused by poverty- drought, war and starvation.

Developer: Students of the IT-University in Copenhagen.

 

9/11 Virtual Reality PTSD Prototype

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/ptsd/

 

A Weill Cornell Medical College therapist and a virtual reality researcher from the University of Washington HITLab are using virtual reality to treat victims of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, and their regimen appears to be effective in helping patients cope with the severe psychological trauma of the event. 

 

13 at War

http://www.13indeoorlog.nl/# 

 

This Dutch game takes us back to the Second World War and lets us experience how it was to grow up under these grave conditions. The game was recently presented at the BAKA Forum in Basel. 

 

Behavior Challenge

http://www.teachers.tv/behaviourchallenge

 

A resource for teachers, where your task is to manage students in a difficult class. You are given several options along the way to chose the strategy you think wil fit best for the disruptive student. The game was recently presented at the BAKA Forum in Basel. 

 

Collapsus

http://www.collapsus.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/collapsuspage 

 

Collapsus is a new transmedia project that combines interactivity, animation, fiction, and documentary. Collapsus looks into the near future and shows you how the imminent energy crisis affects a group of ten young people, who appear to be caught up in an energy conspiracy.

 

Conflict Resolution 

http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2007/01/serious-games-teaching-kids-conflict.html

 

Trying to reduce violence in schools, this game was introduced to teach children how to resolve familiar interpersonal conflicts peacefully.

Developer: the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. 

 

Darfur is Dying

www.darfurisdying.com

 

An activist game where the player takes on the role of a Darfur refugee, fetching water under the risk of rape or abduction by Janjaweed militae before returning to the refugee camp.

Developer: University of Southern California and the International Crisis Group. Funded by Reebok Human Rights Foundation. 

 

Food Force

www.food-force.com 

 

This game simulates a country threatened by a hunger crisis. The player is a humanitarian aid worker planning a successful emergency response. Developer: United Nations World Food Program.  

 

A Force More Powerful

http://www.afmpgame.com/index.shtml

 

AFMP is a strategy game intended to tach activists how to use non-violent methods to influence government policies. Non-violent resistance tactics include training, fund-raising and organizing, protests, strikes, mass action, civil disobedience, noncooperation, etc.

Developer: Ivan Marovic, co-founder of OTPOR (Serbian youth movement) and the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. 

 

Foreign Ground

http://www.defencegaming.org/foreign_ground.htm

 

A first-person perspective training game used by the Swedish military to that simulates peacekeeping operations. Instead of focusing on combat it deals mostly with solving problems using non-violent means without relying on duels and combat. The user play the role of a UN Peacekeeper and solves various tasks while on foot or vehicle patrol.

Developer: Swedish National Defense College.

 

Global Kids Island

http://www.holymeatballs.org/second_life/

 

Part of Second Life, a 3D virtual world in which the residents are provided with the tools required to lliterally shape the world around them. Teen Second Life is a space restricted to 13-17 year olds. Beginning in February, 2006, Global Kids has been exploring how to bring a youth development model around global issues into an island within this teen grid. 

 

The Homeless Experience (SPENT)
http://playspent.org/

 


An online game that guides users through what it feels like to be homeless, integrated with Facebook so you can message actual friends for "help", birding the gap between virtual reality and the real uneasiness of having to ask a friend for assistance.
Developer: McKinner and Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD)

 

Madrid

http://www.newsgaming.com/newsgames.htm

 


A 'newsgame' created in the aftermath of the Madrid train bombings, as a memorial to the 192 victims. The game entertains, but does also encourage critical thinking.

Developer: Newsgaming.com. 

 

September 12

http://www.newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm

 

Introducing a new category of 'newsgames', September 12 is a simple, browser-based game where your apparent goal is to bomb terrorists who are wandering amongst civilians through an Arab market. When you bomb them, collateral damage kills innocent bystanders. Grief-stricken relatives are drawn to terrorism themselves and you see that bombing only produces more terrorists.

Developer: Newsgaming.com and Gonzalo Frasca, a game designer and professor at the University of Copenhagen.

 

Suicide Bus Bomber Virtual Reality PTSD Prototype

http://seriousgamessource.com/features/feature_053006_ptsd.php

 

An immersive virtual reality simulation to help survivors or witnesses of terrorism who have developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The simulation of a terrorist bus bombing is designed to give the therapist control over the progression and intensity of the experience, including the addition of realistic visual and audio affects.

Developer: Imprint Interactive. 

 

Peacemaker

www.peacemakergame.com 
 

Simulates the violence and political turbulence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Players choose between the role of an Israeli prime minister or a Palestinian Authority president, making policy decisions and communicating with the international community while dealing with unexpected violent events. The games teaches high school and college students about the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by focusing on the goal of cohabitation rather than on occupation and destruction.

Developer: Impact Games 

 

Water Alert

http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/wes/explore_1818.html

 


Educational game on the minutae of collecting water samples in developing countries.

Developer: UNICEF.

 

The World Peace Game 

http://theworldpeacegame.com/ 

 

The Game Board

The World Peace Game is a hands-on political simulation that gives players the opportunity to explore the connectedness of the global community through the lens of the economic, social, and environmental crises and the imminent threat of war. The goal of the game is to extricate each country from dangerous circumstances and achieve global prosperity with the least amount of military intervention. As “nation teams,” students will gain greater understanding of the critical impact of information and how it is used. Created by John Hunter and presented at the 2011 TED Conference. 

 

 

Other Resources 

  

Articles

 

Social/New Media

 

Other websites: 

 

 

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