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Design a Game and Raise a Ruckus
Posted by Hsing Wei on 09-24-07Folks with a game idea that can increase physical activity among kids have a chance to win more than $75,000.
HopeLab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of young people with chronic illness, with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is holding an online contest for innovative products called “Ruckus Nation.” The best product ideas will be prototyped, tested, and broadly distributed to young people.
The contest is partly inspired by the nonprofit’s experience and learnings from developing Re-mission, a video game and online community for teens and adults isolated as a result of their disease. In the 3rd person shooter game, players pilot “Roxxi the nanobot” through the body of cancer patients—blasting away cancer cells, defending against bacterial infections, and mitigating life-threatening side effects.
HopeLab conducted a randomized, controlled, multi-center research study to evaluate the impact of the game (on patient adherence to medications, knowledge of cancer, quality of life, and self-efficacy). According to their report, the results showed that the game did produce significant increases in cancer-related knowledge and self-efficacy. Thus far, such evaluations are the anomaly rather than the norm. Their interactive game development process and testing likely has relevance for the development and testing of other serious games.