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Contests Spur and Recognize Games like “Hush” and “Climate Change”

Posted by Hsing Wei on 04-08-08

“Hush” recently won the first Better Game Contest.

BetterGameContest.org aims to showcase games that address social issues by highlighting particular human values in their content, interaction choices, and game goals. (The second Better Game Contest’s submission deadline is July 1, 2008.)

Introduced in a previous post, Hush, is a unique game that immerses players in the Rwandan genocide. Players assume the role of a mother who must remain calm and soothe her crying baby to avoid detection by militants. The jury applauded Hush’s unique play style, and successful merging of mechanic and message. “The player isn’t viewing the horrific event from a distance and attempting to ‘solve the problem’; rather, players are immersed in the moment, experiencing the terror of a Hutu raid. Even though the player is not in a position of power, the player still has the noble goal of saving a child.”

The game will now be featured in the valuesatplay.org game repository and contest applicants will retain all intellectual property rights.

The European Green IT Awards also recently recognized a game. “Climate Challenge”, produced by Red Redemption Ltd for the BBC and Oxford University, has been played by over two million unique players around the world. Climate Challenge combined the climate science of Oxford University and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change with an engaging strategy game. Used by the World Economic Forum in the run-up to Davos 2007 for training executives, the choices players make parallel the real ones that governments must also tackle—how to juggle the demands of running a country, sustainably delivering food/water/clean energy, and staying in power.

Climate Challenge is freely available to play on Makes You Think , a site that shows a range of socially conscious games and websites.

Contests can be a potentially interesting aspect to marketing/distribution strategy. While there is no Academy Awards for games, much less for social issue games, the growing number of contests points to an interest in recognizing games for their merits beyond distraction and sheer fun.

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