A blog turning into a game

The Pew Internet project, an initiative of the non-profit think-tank Pew Center today released the results of a nationwide U.S. survey on youth and gaming, called “Teens, Video Games, and Civics.” The authors interviewed over 1,000 youth.  For those of us in the space, the broad conclusions are not surprising.  The study found that 97% of teens ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable, or console games.  But more detailed cuts of the data highlight some interesting facts:

For example, 65% of game-playing teens play with other people who are in the room with them.  Also, 27% play games with people who they connect with through the Internet.  Clearly, gaming is increasingly becoming a social experience for youth, a way to transplant offline relationships online, or to form ones entirely.

Also, the survey found that the game play characteristics in which teens play games are correlated to their interest and engagement in civic and political activities.  We’ve often talked about the importance of serious games, which serve some underlying purpose other than pure entertainment.  The writers of the report, note,

“Longitudinal and quasi-experimental studies have identified a set of civic learning opportunities (such as simulations of civic or political activities, helping others, and debating ethical issues) that promote civic outcomes among youth. Many of these civic learning opportunities parallel particular elements of video game play.”

The offline-online dynamics of serious game play are fascinating in terms of thinking about games that we can build that reflect the real world, but that also carry meaning past the game itself, into the real world.  This includes building context for kids and teens in important areas like political activism, charity, and social awareness.

Yesterday, EA released its long awaited massively single-player online game, Spore.  The game has received widespread acclaim over the past several months because of its technological richness and creative storyline and game design.  Spore allows a player to control the evolution of a species from its earliest beginnings, through its entire development.  The game is in the tradition of classics like Civilization and SimCity.

Players can populate their world in Spore using creatures that they, or others, make.   Even though the game is single player, objects or creatures built by users get uploaded to a master database for others to download and rate.  The game uses a sophisticated form of design called procedural animation.

The game has transplanted real-world debates into the realm of educational game design.  For instance, critics note how the game raises questions on creationism vs. evolution.  Game creators have even referred to their perspective as “creativolution.”  When it comes to educational games, does the content have to project a specific pedagogical theme? Or it can be open-ended? Spore allows for unbound creativity in universe design, but how much should that design reflect real-world constraints imposed by science? One might expect a similar debate when thinking about how real environmental concerns like global warming should be reflected in the game environmnet, if at all.

Here is a TV ad for the game and a link to the official website:

Gamasutra and the SF Chronicle today discuss the findings of a non-profit called HopeLab, founded in 2001, concluding that video games can help encourage young people with cancer to take their medications more consistently.  Dr. Steve Cole, who helped direct the study, wrote,

“We now know that games can induce positive changes in the way individuals manage their health.  The game not only motivates positive health behavior; it also gives players a greater sense of power and control over their disease — in fact, that seems to be its key ingredient.”

The game, called Re-Mission, and introduced in May 2006, is an open community for teenagers and young adults afflicted with cancer.  The study followed 375 teens and young adults with cancer at 34 medical centers in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The results were very promising: young people who played the game maintained higher blood levels of chemotherapy and showed higher rates of antibiotic utilization than those who did not.

Re-Mission is powerful because of its focus on a specific cause and the ability to combine interactivity with gameplay.  Here is a trailer of the game:

At Ramo, we’re big fans of serious games, games that serve a purpose other than pure entertainment. The ability to create engaging products with meaning beyond the games themselves is wonderful, especially if the lives of others can be improved.

In a previous post, we wrote about FreeRice. The website, in cooperation with the UN World Food Program, donates 20 grains of rice to the hungry across the globe for every word that a visitor gets right in its word game.

Best of all, the game is surprisingly simple. You are given a word and you must click on one of four choices that most accurately reflects its meaning. The game gets harder after each correct answer, but 20 more grains of rice get donated for each word that you get correct.

As of today, 39,471,718,130 grains of rice have been donated. Roughly several million grains of rice get donated every month.

The simplicity of FreeRice, combined with the charitable nature of the cause and the fact that visitors of any age can play it make it one of the best examples of a serious game with meaningful educational value. In fact, the guy who started the game built it using the 10,000 words his son was studying to prepare for the SAT.