when i was eight My son told me he was entertaining his friends and fighting bullies in video games, and I was intrigued.he told me about good kingdom, a game recommended by his school librarian. On his computer, my son walks his character up to a friend with his head bowed, and hands another character a heart. The friend looked up and smiled. Then my son maneuvers the player down a path and encounters a bully who is jumping up and down with his teeth gritted. Press a series of buttons quickly and the bully is in jail.
good kingdom Produced by Interland, a division of Google, it’s part of a four-game series that teaches players about internet safety, such as establishing strong passwords and only interacting with trusted online friends. I especially like that the lessons can also be broadly applied to life.
I found good kingdom Listed on Games for Change, a non-profit organization that promotes and supports creators who use games for social good. Arana Shapiro, Managing Director and Chief Learning Officer, Games for Change explained: “good kingdom is a game we show because it has a great message. It promotes online safety and media literacy. Play is where kids are and how humans connect. Let’s play and come together. We know this is the natural state of youth, so we gravitate toward it and use the medium to promote good. “
The Games for Change website is a portal for others to find games to teach, encourage and inspire.The site is searchable, has age ratings and content tags, such as sadness or mental health, and it’s easy to find more games, such as good kingdom. E.g, before i forget Tells players about the emotional struggles of living with dementia and was nominated for a BAFTA award. bombing 1942 World War II is told to players through the eyes of Holocaust survivors. Journey to Thousand Cuts Change the player’s perspective to better understand racism and discrimination, from outright hate all the way to micro-aggressions. Most of all, they’re games that help people understand situations they may never have experienced first-hand.
Games for Change was founded in 2004 by the book’s author, Benjamin Stokes Play Local: Real World Games Built for Stronger Places and Communities; Suzanne Seggerman, public speaker and consultant on new media and social impact; Barry Joseph, an expert in digital engagement with a mission to use video games for social good and believes games can teach people history, new skills, and more without being Label it “education.”
Eventually, the team expanded and started working with external game developers such as Half the Sky from India; Leti Games, a Kenyan game company; and Frima, a Canadian developer who also wanted to design games with social impact. “The company has been growing steadily over the last six or seven years because gamification has become so popular. We all have a console in our pocket. We don’t sit in our basement and play games anymore. Do you play word or candy crush? It makes you a gamer,” Shapiro said. “Many of us play games all day long, and when used in the right way, this form of communication can dramatically change the way people empathize with others. “
While Games for Change is a great place to find games with social impact, it offers a host of other features in the gaming space, even working on new projects as an executive producer. Mental health, for example, is a seldom-explored frontier in video games, and the team is currently working with Goliath on a game that puts players in the shoes of someone with schizophrenia. “The experience of really feeling, tasting and touching gives us a different understanding,” explains Shapiro.
