Change the World Playing Video Games

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

If you’re somehow passionate about playing video games you know the amount of fun the games can offer to you. Have you ever thought that this kind of entertainment could literally change the world to become a better place? The majority of people who play video games never thought about it, but it’s true! Many game producing studios started to build games that raise awareness about different world problems like wars, pollution, food, water and similar. It’s such a great way to share the worlds’ problems with the bigger population as there are a lot of people who’re passionate about playing video games.

Imagine you’re playing a game that is about the war in the middle eastinfo-icon and the game shows you the inside problems a person faces each day. That must have an impact on a person who plays it! With each day, more projects encourage game studios to create games based on real-world situations that help people to learn about these topics and help the world become a better place for everyone.

We will introduce you with one of the most popular gaming platforms that have a purpose of educating people who’re playing the games about the worlds’ problems. The project of gamified social innovation is here for a long time, but many people aren’t even aware that the video games can deliver a deeper message to them.

How Video Games Can Make People Aware of the Worlds’ Problems

People in gaming industry recognized the potential of the industry as people around the globe are playing around 3 billion hours weekly. Imagine that! The world is facing many problems right now like hunger, pollution, poverty, climate change and it’s a great way to raise peoples’ awareness about these problems by making video games about it. If people would play video games on these topics even for one billion hours per week, the awareness of the problems will raise drastically and eventually there will be more and more movements facing and solving the problems.

Many people share the opinion that playing video games is a pure time waste and people who’re participating in that activity don’t grow. That’s a wrong perspective and it’s time for people to shift that. For example, video games are placed in the world of imagination, but you still need to solve the problems there which means you’re improving your problem-solving skills. Imagine that you’re playing a game where there is a real-world problem to be solved.

An interesting example of that is a game named The World Without Oil that shows how the world will be different if there is no oil left. In the game, you’re playing as a person on the world without oil and trying to survive as long as possible. Imagine for a second how hard it could be to survive in that world! That’s a core of gamified social innovation as it raises awareness of the problems world is facing or may face shortly.

Playing Video Games for Change
Playing Video Games for Change

Platforms That Promote a Gamified Social Innovation and Awareness

Many platforms are promoting playing video games for increasing the awareness of global problems. We would love to share with you one trendy and effective one called GamesForChange. That platform was founded in 2004 and the main goal for them is to empower and motivate game creators to create the games where players should solve the real-world problems like pollution, hunger, poverty and similar. That way, they want to help people learn and improve their communities to become the better places for living.

The platform itself isn’t only looking for a big game developer as it’s always encouraging small and independent game creators to publish the games on their platform. That’s a good thing for independent developers as they will also get free promotion for their games, but they are helping to raise the awareness of people around the world.

GamesForChange have many different programs and one of the most popular ones is they are offering help on your project. If you’re a game creator, the platform will assist you in developing and designing a game that will have an enormous social impact on the players. There are many case studies about the different project available on the platform, so you have a pretty much all you need to know while creating a social awareness game.

To start using the platform, you must create a profile and you will be able to play and leave feedback on different games available. It’s a great way to connect with like-minded people who’re on the journey of raising awareness of the worlds’ problems. Also, there are many programs and contests available and you can even get funded by the platform and partners for development of your idea.

Another great thing is making connections and relationships with the industry as if you want; you can participate daily discussions on Google Groups with other users of the platforms.

If you love to travel around the world and educate yourself on the road, the great way is to attend the conferences this platform organizes with the partners.

Gamified Social Innovation for the Better World

Games with the social impact became very popular in the last few years to that extent that you can see many new games popping up each day. That’s a great thing for the community as it raises awareness about worlds’ problems and many people started to work on solving these problems.

If you’re a gaming developer, GamesForChange is the perfect platform for you to connect, learn and create an impacting project. Also, if you only love to play video games, you can pick among many different games and leave the feedback for the creators. If you’re only there to connect with the like-minded people who’re aware of worlds’ problems, then you’re at the right place.

Register your free account there and enjoy your time while learning and expanding yourself!

Antonio Gabric a freelance content writer for aSabbatical.com
Traveling is the best way to learn about the world and cultures. It changes your mindset and you see possibilities everywhere.