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Games for Change (G4C) provides support, visibility and shared resources to organizations and individuals using digital games for social change. This is the primary community of practice for those interested in making digital games about the most pressing issues of our day, from poverty to race and the environment. We are the social change/social issues branch of the Serious Games Initiative.

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Death Panel: iPhone Game about Healthcare Debate

Posted by Hsing Wei on 12-30-09

Year-in-review lists are emerging, and the various ways that iPhones and apps have changed the media landscape are among many a top 10 countdown.  Rare but present among the growing number of apps that can help you with nearly anything was a free, new iPhone/iPod game that addressed the health care debate.  Developed by newbie People Operating Technology,  Death Panel puts players on a virtual podium in the role of a local official trying to win constituency points by correctly answering questions about health care from an anxious public.  Designed as a fun application to help with the public’s struggle to comprehend the politicized claims, facts, and figures about the health care system, the quiz game incorporates third party facts from sources such as WhiteHouse.gov, StateHealthFacts.org, the bipartisan National Coalition on Health Care and FactCheck.org. and tests player’s knowledge of healthcare reform.  Melding in a real-world and social component, players are encouraged to share their scores with friends via Facebook and Twitter.  Moreover, an integrated location-based feature also allows players to look up info about real-life politicians and associated money those representatives have taken from health care lobbyists (data from the Center for Responsive Politics). More details here.