There have been many interesting projects that we have come across and many more that we have yet to uncover. However, from the work that we’ve been doing so far – speaking to people, organisations, Googling, Tweeting, LinkingIn and so much more – there has been an emerging trend that is really fascinating & gaining momentum.
One of the methods that we’d like to highlight is related to the booming gaming industry that is growing and making billions of pounds in profit, whilst becoming more and more sophisticated – related because it uses similar mechanics but different because these games have a social purpose. We’d like to introduce you to the exciting world of ‘games for social good’.
© The Young Foundation
Traditional video games use ‘game mechanics’ to get people engaged with a certain game such as World of Warcraft (multi-player online role playing game) or Super Mario Brothers. Game mechanics capitalises on elements of human nature to create new worlds/alternate realities. As human beings, we like being rewarded; we like belonging to a community; we like representing ourselves in the best possible light; we like challenges and competing against one another; but we also like collaborating with each other as well. All of these various elements of human nature are manipulated for the means of the game through game mechanics- the idea of rewards, communities, avatars, obstacles, etc.- have been studied by academics and developed to for a clear business purpose by game manufacturers for decades.
What do you get when you marry gaming mechanics with a social cause? You have games for social good. Games with a social purpose are really exciting because it takes principles that have been highly successful in getting people to become avid players and consumers of video games, and applying it to the real world in some sort of way. Jane McGonigal’s fantastic TED talk illuminates us on the potential impact that social gaming can have in the world, and it seems as though more and more people are thinking in the same way as Jane is.
There have been so many unique ways in which elements of gaming have been applied to the social context. From Human vs. Mosquitos that helps young people understand how mosquitos are carriers of malaria. To Plotform EU that creates avatars for donors who pay money into a project in Africa who then can see the project develop virtually. Jane McGonigal’s game Evoke for the World Bank was created last year in order to get players to create a social network through the game to help empower people all over the world to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems; Edgeryders that loosely uses game mechanics to get young people around the world to create the largest think tank in the world. There are organisations like New York City’s Games for Change which supports the creation and distribution of social games, that are starting to emerge around the world.
In one of our previous blogs we mentioned Pablo Suarez who is the designer of ‘serious games’ or as we’ve been referring to it here, games for social good. Pablo, as well as some of our other academics and experts we have spoken to like Alberto Cottica and Alberto Massetiz have been using gamification (modification of game dynamics into a site, service, community, content or campaign) to get people to think differently and learn through playing games. All games are all dynamic but all games aim to teach individuals something. These games for social good are trying in their own unique ways to create meaningful learning experiences that have proven to be as good as a conventional lecture.
Each ‘game’ is unique because there are different game mechanic elements that are used to get people to ‘play the game’ but also ‘think about things differently,’ ‘engage in social issues’ and ‘change behavour’- getting people to learn is the ultimate aim. Wouldn’t it be really exciting if the next popular, most sought after game didn’t cost £50 a go and had avid game players playing a game that involves people changing other people’s lives and communities for the better, as well as having an impact on society/community/world? How exciting would that be…
To read the blog written by Edgeryders here, please click http://findingwhatworks.org/2011/12/08/edgeryders-submitted-by-edgeryders/
To read the blog piece about Pablo Suarez, please click here http://findingwhatworks.org/2011/11/15/serious-games-how-to-make-climate-science-entertaining/
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