Games Developers Strive for Social Impact

Those members of the documentary community concerned with developing transmedia applications to augment the social impact of nonfiction films should take at look at the award winning games from the 2012 Games 4 Change Festival, held at NYU Skirball Center from June 18-20, 2012.

Gaming Goals

Each of the three award winning games sets forth a compelling scenario that is designed to engage participants in role playing and decision making that will raise their awareness about real life issues related to personal economy, intercultural communication and being a soldier at war.

These are the sorts of interactive applications that might be developed to coincide with the release of an issue-oriented documentary, as part of the film's multiplatform outreach campaign that is designed to attract the attention of a wider range of viewers, especially the vast numbers of people who play games but are not accustomed to watching nonfiction films.

And, The Games 4 Change Winners Are...

This year's Games 4 Change winners are currently accessible on line, and can be played for free.

To see how they successfully engage players to consider serious issues, and how similar games might be appropriate for documentary films looking for greater exposure, take your turn at:

• Way, a game that utilizes virtual puppets to enable two anonymous strangers located in different places around the world to collaborate and communicate with each other, as they share with each other their vastly different ways of seeing and interpreting the world, and learn to successfully overcome the various traditions, beliefs, social and cultural precepts and other obstacles that separate them. The game was developed by CoCo & Co. It was the winner of two Games 4 Change Awards, including Game of the Year and Most Innovative Game.

• Spent is a game in which a player is given a staring sum of $1,000 and with it must cover all expenses for an entire month. Not so easy. The player is then put into various situations -- necessary but unexpected dentistry, for example, or whether or not to pay out an extra $30 to cover a child's school field trip -- that require instant spend or save decisions that could lead to bankruptcy. As gaming principles are used to deliver the underlying message that poverty is really a matter of circumstances, and not an indication of character, there are specific slogans that pop up to inform players of statistics that underscore the game's message. The game's developer is McKinney, and the project was funded by the Urban Ministries of Durham and McKinney. Spent took the Games 4 Change Award for Most Significant Impact.
• Unmanned, in which the player is cast in the role of a 21st-century soldier, one who experiences serious and sleep-depriving stress and internal conflict as he tries to cope with the contradictions of the soldierly tasks of his normal work day -- during which he drops bombs on foreign lands by remote control -- and the regular civilian life he experiences every night at home -- where he tries to be a good parent and get a decent night's sleep that's not disrupted by bad dreams and anxiety. The game actually requires players to make on the spot decisions that have immediate consequences, thereby leading them to the consideration of stressful issues such as that of personal and technological disconnection, of unmanageable multitasking, personal introspection, the effects of our contemporary game culture, and the disturbingly disjointed nature of modern day warfare. The game won two Games 4 Change trophies, including the award for Best Gameplay and the Knight News Game Award (supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to recognize games that feature current events, documentary subject matter, infographic news data, or that exist as a news platform to engage individuals and communities). The developer is Molleindustria + No Media Kings.

Emerging From The Competition

Picked from the 67 games submitted for competition in this year's Games 4 Change Festival, the winners were judged for game concept, design, aesthetics, technological innovation, social relevance, and play-ability.

Each is an entertaining and highly engaging alternative to other currently marketed games that focus on chaos and violence.

For more information about Games 4 Change and the Games 4 change annual festival, visit the Games 4 Change Website.