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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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Reporting Back: Panel at Annual Serious Games Summit in DC

Posted by Benjamin Stokes on 02-22-06

We now have the full audio (MP3) from the November '05 panel that G4C hosted at the Serious Games Summit titled "Theory of Change: The Making of Good Social Issue Games." Overview: Many proponents of serious games believe they can affect positive social change, but to claim success, one must be able to evaluate impact. Business owners, foundations and nonprofits often use a "theory of change" (TOC) to articulate what's behind their social change design. Thus, a special focus of the panel will be discussing how TOC principals can form the basis of successful non-profit game design. The panel consider several TOC approaches through the perspectives of varied panelists. (More detail is available on the panel's description on the Summit site.) Speakers included:
  • Moderator: Mario Armstrong (National Public Radio)
  • Suzanne Seggerman (Games for Change)
  • Benjamin Stokes (Games for Change, NetAid)
  • Barry Joseph (Global Kids)
  • Catherine Herdlick (gameLab)