Thought experiment :: Using games to solve problems
Following @dislekcia's challenge posed at last month's Cape Town meet up to think about making games that address social issues, I was wondering if anyone had given this some thought?
Some examples that could use discussion:
1. Creating a game to tackle race and/or gender issues
2. Using games to highlight how language can perpetuate problems
3. Creating a game that teaches valuable life skills
4. Anything else you can think of....
Some examples that could use discussion:
1. Creating a game to tackle race and/or gender issues
2. Using games to highlight how language can perpetuate problems
3. Creating a game that teaches valuable life skills
4. Anything else you can think of....
Thanked by 1Kaiser_Gun
Comments
The closest I've personally gotten to this sort of thing in the past has been with Mathstermind (which taught maths skills via integration into a master-mind-like puzzle) and EVOKE (which had us focusing on social entrepreneurship for the World Bank, eventually Jane McGonigal turned it into something amazing) and I'd love to do more.
Personally, I feel like the key concepts of a game that really wants to promote change need to be integrated into the actual gameplay on a level where you can't actually separate them out anymore - if you could play a game without the thing you're trying to raise awareness of, then the game is going to mutate and remove it in the future. Something similar happened with Monopoly as it's played today.
I've been thinking about a game that exposed privilege as a concept - mostly via hidden cards dealt out to everyone else in the game which dictate how they have to interact with you as a player, seeing as privilege is mostly invisible to those who have it... I'd also love to see a game that pointed out the key elements that make up something as insidiously pervasive as rape culture - especially if it was something that could be easily played at schools or universities.
I love the idea of hidden cards to demonstrate privilege. This actually follows on so nicely from a discussion I had on Friday night about the concepts of privilege in relation to cis-gender vs transgender individuals and groups. I had a particular problem with the word privilege, though I absolutely agree with what is intended to be communicated. If we remove the problems inherent in language communication (including personal associations and ideas about what words mean) and replace/translate the actual issue into a game mechanic, I think this would create an easier space for talking about the issue.
My worry is about creating a game which is unpleasant. Monopoly is unpleasant, quite specifically because it is demonstrating a particular idea. However, consumers are more interested in gratification from games - I expect. Though, of course, Black Ops the line might have demonstrated quite the opposite. I guess the tendency is to want to make something that people enjoy and have fun with...
(will add more to this later...I don't feel like my thoughts are fully formed here and I'm desperate for a nap :) )
Firstly, is Ian Bogost's talk on how serious games need to be 'earnest':
Second is Ian Grace's talk on Game Verbs - basically talking about what you mentioned about integrating social issues into gamplay:
Third is Jessica Hammer's talk on how she she made games to teach Ethiopian girls how act more assertively in social situations:
All these talks kind of blew my mind and were really altered how I think about game design in general.
One of the games that was in our exhibition, Privalege was about the Inequality and privilege of the American economic system - it's pretty awesome. Basically, once you get enough dominance you can choose to extend your turn forever as you keep spending and earning money - it was really effective in conveying the theme. We've got a copy at Wits if you guys would like to give it a play at A MAZe :).
I've also got a couple ideas on social impact games: mostly to do with forced removals and unequal allocation of land :).
http://www.youtube.com/embed/rN0qRKjfX3s
http://www.depressionquest.com/
Depression Quest was selected to appear at IndieCade this year too, so there's definitely a path to visibility by creating stuff like this. You just have to do it well enough to make other people understand your message.
Adding the list, there's also Actual Sunlight, that covers depression and suicide - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=132375295 . The RPS write-up is great; http://rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/11/thoughts-on-actual-sunlight/.
:)