Awards
On June 22nd, Games for Change presented a series of awards that recognized excellence in “games for change” that address current and pressing social issues. These games were made available on-site to play throughout the Festival. The 2nd Annual Games for Change Awards Ceremony was held live at the Jack H. Skirball Center of Performing Arts.
To view the Awards Ceremony and see the winners, visit our blog.
Direct Impact
Games targeted at specific audiences with proven outcomes.
-
EVOKE (winner)
Game type:
Massively multiplayer alternate reality and social networking game (web and mobile web-based)Target audience:
GeneralDescription:
EVOKE is a 10-week “crash course in saving the world.” The goal of the social network game is to help empower people all over the world to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems. -
Participatory Chinatown (winner)
Game type:
Role-playing game (web-based, Windows only)Target audience:
Stakeholders in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhoodDescription:
Participatory Chinatown is an online, 3D game designed to be part of the master planning process of Boston’s Chinatown. Players assume the roles of 15 different residents to get a better understanding of their individual problems and concerns.
-
Farm Blitz
Game type:
Casual game (web-based)Target audience:
Low-income adultsDescription:
Created by and for low-income adults with inspiration from the world’s two most popular games (Bejeweled and Farmville), Farm Blitz combines elements of both titles to simulate the process of creating good savings habits and avoiding the pitfalls of accumulating too much debt. -
Foldit
Game type:
Online, multiplayer puzzle game (Mac, PC, Linux)Target audience:
GeneralDescription:
Foldit is a 3D puzzle game that enables players to use the human brain’s natural 3D reasoning abilities and spatial relation skills to solve complex scientific problems such as cures for disease, DNA manipulation and more.
Knight News Game
Supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to recognize a range of games featuring current events, documentary subject matter, infographic or news data, puzzles, literacy, community engagement or exist as a news platform.
-
Fate of the World (winner)
Game type:
Strategy and simulation (PC)Target audience:
Strategy gamers and casual gamers interested in the environmentDescription:
Based on the research of Dr. Myles Allen at Oxford University, Fate of the World simulates the social and environmental impact of global climate change over the next 200 years. The science, the politics, the destruction — it’s all real, and it’s scary. -
The Cat and the Coup (honorable recognition)
Game type:
Documentary game (Mac and PC)Target audience:
Primarily Americans and IraniansDescription:
The Cat and the Coup puts you in the role of the cat belonging to Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. Throughout gameplay, you’ll coax Mossadegh back through the significant events of his life following the coup of 1953.
-
Guess My Race
Game type:
Quiz game (iOS devices)Target Audience:
12 and overDescription:
Guess My Race is a quiz game that was designed to get people thinking in new ways, allowing them to think more critically about the extremely complex issues of race, diversity, ethnicity, religion, nationality, class, and culture. -
One Ocean Interactive
Game type:
Web-based learning gamesTarget audience:
Canadian and international youthDescription:
Launched in conjunction with the four-part, award-winning series “One Ocean”, users can enter the ocean and design their own experiences. Features expert resources and virtual 3 D underwater habitats.
Learning and Education
Games designed to highlight and/or teach specific topics in the classroom or in informal learning environments.
-
The Curfew (winner)
Game type:
Web-based interactive dramaTarget audience:
Ages 14 – 19Description:
The Curfew examines the erosion of civil liberties and explores the possible consequences of this happening in England while following four main characters with unique viewpoints and motivations. -
InterroBang
Game type:
Web-based, proprietary game engineTarget audience:
Middle and high school studentsDescription:
InterroBang is an online/real-world game challenging students to extend their learning and contributions to society by completing missions that focus on science, creativity, exploration and social good. Players are then asked to share and discuss their work online.
-
MeTycoon
Game type:
Social game (web-based)Target audience:
Ages 11 – 14Description:
MeTycoon is a casual, simulation game that offers young people a way to find out more about resources and opportunities about future careers. -
One Ocean Interactive
Game type:
Web-based learning gamesTarget audience:
Canadian and international youthDescription:
Launched in conjunction with the four-part, award-winning series “One Ocean”, users can enter the ocean and design their own experiences. Features expert resources and virtual 3 D underwater habitats.
Transmedia
Games that are part of a larger cross-media campaign.
-
Inside the Haiti Earthquake (winner)
Game type:
Web-based interactive simulationTarget audience:
Students, professionals and everyday citizens interested in humanitarian work related to HaitiDescription:
Inside the Haiti Earthquake is an online simulation that allows users to experience the aftermath of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake as a survivor, aid worker or journalist. The game is the online companion to the Inside Disaster Haiti documentary. -
Collapsus
Game type:
Web-based interactive thrillerTarget audience:
GeneralDescription:
Collapsus combines interactivity, animation, fiction and documentary. This pioneering approach blends real documentary footage with mini-games and movie fragments, inviting you to choose your own perspective as the story unfolds. It is the transmedia project associated with the documentary Energy Risk.
-
America 2049
Game type:
Social role-playing and alternate reality gameTarget audience:
GeneralDescription:
America 2049 is an alternate reality game on Facebook that presents a near-future America at a crossroads: civil liberties are in peril, and democracy is on the brink of destruction. You, the player, are an agent of the Council on American Heritage, tasked with the capture of a presumed terrorist. -
The Curfew
Game type:
Web-based interactive dramaTarget audience:
Ages 14 – 19Description:
The Curfew examines the erosion of civil liberties and explores the possible consequences of this happening in England while following four main characters with unique viewpoints and motivations. -
The Garbage Dreams Game
Game type:
Casual game (web-based)Target audience:
General, and particularly grades 6 – 12Description:
The documentary Garbage Dreams goes inside the world of Egypt’s Zaballeen (Arabic for “garbage people”). The Garbage Dreams Recycling game invites players to take on the role of the Zaballeen, who impressively recycle 80% of the trash they collect.
Nominating Panels
-
Direct Impact
Cheryl Heller, Founder, Heller Communication Design, Chair, Design for Social Innovation, SVA, Board Chair, PopTech.
Mathan Ratinam, Director, Humanitarian Design Lab, Parsons The New School for Design
Benjamin Stokes, Co-Founder of Games For Change and PhD Student at USC Annenberg
-
Knight News Game
Leigh Alexander, News Editor, Gamasutra
Simon Ferrari, Researcher at Georgia Tech
Gilson Schwartz, Director, Games for Change Latin America
-
Learning & Education
Idit Harel Caperton, President and Founder, World Wide Workshop Foundation
Marjee Owens Chmiel, School Technology Specialist, Fairfax County Public Schools
Jon-Paul C. Dyson, Director, International Center for the History of Electronic Games, and Vice President for Exhibit Research and Development, The Strong
James Jorasch, Founder of Science House
Rafi Santo, Learning Sciences Doctoral Student, Indiana University
Ted Scovell, Director of Science Outreach, The Rockefeller University
Chloe Varelidi, Creative Director of MissionLab at Quest to Learn, and Senior Game Designer with the Institute of Play
-
Transmedia
Griffin Farley, Strategy Director at BBH New York focused on Propagation Planning and Innovation
Catherine Herdlick, Game Designer and Co-Founder/Director, Come Out & Play
Victor Piñeiro, strategist, copywriter, and social media guy for digital creative agency Big Spaceship
Susana Ruiz, Co-Founder, Take Action Games and Doctoral Candidate, University of Southern California
