Yeah, I know what you’re thinking – my title indicates that I must be mad and in denial of the truth, or tend to play really sad educational games designed for young children or possibly masochists. But no, in fact I speak the truth – and in fact games that don’t set out to be educational end up being so.
For instance, I have a pretty in-depth knowledge of the history and geography of the West Indies – purely through playing Pirates!. Another Sid Meier’s game, Civilisation, gave me a bit more understanding of general history. As a young teenager Chris Crawford’s Balance of Power helped me to understand the basic principles of geopolitics – surely something that most young teenagers wouldn’t have much idea about.
Anyway, the reason for all of this is that I was contacted recently by the team behind the Global Conflicts game series. The idea behind these games is to highlight world issues, with the third game just released addressing the issue of child soldiers, doing so via an interactive game experience. Unfortunately my review copy hasn’t come through yet, but it does seem that these games are designed to be both educational and very playable (not, as is often the case with such things, educational at the expense of playability).
The official blurb is this:
“Global Conflicts: Child Soldiers” is a 3D role-playing and simulation game based on real events and stories from the region. The players work for the International Criminal Court and are sent on a mission in Uganda, where they will meet the feared leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. Throughout the game the players are placed in difficult ethical dilemmas and introduced to issues such as child soldiers, human rights and warcrimes. The game has specific learning goals and is developed to meet curriculum requirements.
More than 25.000 children have been abducted to serve as child soldiers in the local armies in Uganda. Why is this happening and how can justice best be ensured?
You arrive in Uganda on a dry and dusty road. You work for the International Criminal Court and are sent on an assignment in Uganda, to meet with the feared leader of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. Two decades of brutal civil war between government forces and the LRA has driven 1.7 million people into camps. Since 2006, the Ugandans have tried to negotiate peace with Kony. But now that the ICC has put out arrest warrants for him he refuses to talk peace. Can you make him change his mind?
This is another example that computer games can be, and often are, far more than simply a form of entertainment. Two quotes from their website from young people who’ve played the games are: “When you are playing the game, you remember things better than if you are only being taught by the teacher.”, “Compared to reading for an hour I have learned much more from playing this game.” and “Here you can walk around and see what is happening. In some way you actually experience it. I think you learn a lot from this.” When you think about it, these sentiments really make a lot of sense. Compared to reading or watching a movie, playing a video game is a much more immersive experience -you’re using most of your senses as well as your ability to think your way around problems.
The real challenge for anyone making this sort of game is to create something that not only informs, but is as enjoyable and challenging to play as the best commercial games out there. Simply having a worthy aim isn’t going to be enough to get people playing (and learning, whether that’s their actual intention or not). “Serious Games”, who develop the Global Conflict series, seem to be taking the right direction with their games. From their website:
“Computer games have the capacity to take learning to a whole new level. Playing computer games has become one of today’s most popular media for people of all ages. Why not use peoples’ inherent fascination with games for purposes beyond pure entertainment?… Since our inception in 2006 we have aimed to develop engaging games with a strong focus on integrating the gaming and learning experience.”
It’s a fascinating idea and one that’s already succeeded to a large degree. If you think the idea is worthy of further investigation, check out the Serious Games Website and the Global Conflicts Website.
