A. Fine Blog
I had a fantastic, albeit short, time at the Games for Change Annual Festival yesterday. It is remarkable how quickly the field of gaming for social change has grown and matured.
Great examples of games for change highlighted at the conference included:
Ayiti: The Cost of Life, a roll playing game by Global Kids for children to understand the difficulties of living in poverty.
Peacemaker, a game available for a small fee for players to create their own pathways to peace in the Middle East.
Darfur is Dying. Since it’s release last year, over a million people have played this game to experience and better understand the dire situation regarding the genocide in Darfur.
In my remarks at the conference, I applauded their efforts, but also challenged gamers to think about funding and fundraising differently from traditional nonprofit organizations. I also challenged these activists to make sure that their efforts are connected to on-the-ground social change efforts. Games are great for raising awareness of an issue and educating participants. However, alone, they won’t lead to sustainable social change unless and until they form partnerships with social change efforts (not necessarily organizations) that can connect with and organize people to meet, protest, and advocate for change.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Games for Change Festival
