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3rd World Farmer
Game URL: www.3rdworldfarmer.com
Developer: 3rd World Farmer Team
Non-Profit: We link to several non-profits and some of them have provided background material and facts for the game.
Release Date: Spring 2005
Project Lead: Frederik Hermund
Funding Sources: none
Sponsors/In-kind donations: ArcadeTown.com and NeoDelight.com
Budget:
Overall: not available
Secured: not available
Brief Description
3rd World Farmer lets players manage a small farm in a developing country, and thus experience the hardships and dilemmas faced by the poor.
Full Description
3rd World Farmer touches on many subjects related to world hunger and poverty, such as corruption, trade barriers, armed conflict, lack of education, sanitation, infrastructure and economic stability. These factors are brought into play through an intuitive and easy-to-play simulation, where the player makes choices primarily about crop types, livestock, tools, and structures for his farm, as well as managing the family members' health, education, marriages and jobs. The highly playable model, where the player only slowly becomes aware of the perilous situation and his increasingly desperate options, has made the game popular with both casual game players and educators who use the simulation in class.
Target Audience: The game is intended for casual game players, and has gotten high ratings from these on several online gaming sites. It has an educative goal, and is also good for starting discussions in class.
Social Issues Addressed: global conflict, poverty, domestic issues, public policy, education, political,
Purpose:
We are aiming at a more immersive experience than movies or books on similar subjects provide. Also, by using the game format we hope to reach people who aren't already aware of the problems in developing countries. We want to show them that 'rules of play' apply differently to people in different parts of the world. At the end of the game, people are invited to visit various relief agency websites to learn how they can personally make a difference.
Metrics:
How? We don't, although we keep track of visitor counts to the different relief agencies we link to and take note of educators contacting us about using the game in class.
What outcomes have been measured? At least 3000 people have followed links to relief agencies after playing the game, and several schools and colleges are using the game as part of their curriculum.
Press Coverage:
Thousands, just google "3rd world farmer" :)
Press Release URL: See our about page: www.3rdworldfarmer.com/About.html
Public Contact Information
Name: 3rdWorldFarmer Team
Email: world_farmer@hotmail.com
Press Contact Name: 3rdWorldFarmer Team
Press Contact Email: world_farmer@hotmail.com
Game Tags: poverty, hunger, developing countries, 3rd world, farming, corruption, starvation, politics
Where you can play this game: http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com We link from our front page to arcadetown.com where the game can be played online and for free.
