Serious Fun

Computer games encourage social action.

Laura Leonard

For many people around the world, survival is a way of life. For others, survival is a computer game.

Social-action games, a burgeoning genre in the computer gaming industry, confront players with complex situations that simulate real-life decisions faced by people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

At the center of the movement is Games for Change (G4C), a nonprofit that helps other organizations develop and support social-action games. The organization features games dealing with human rights, economics, public policy and health, poverty, the environment, global political conflict, and more.

Participating organizations are tapping into a ready-made market. According to a study by the Pew Research Center in September 2008, 97 percent of teenagers are playing video and computer games. While G4C is not a Christian organization, it has developed games for Christian Aid and Heifer International, among others. Using role playing and decision making, both games teach the importance of goats to rural village families.

Suzanne Seggerman, president and cofounder of G4C, told Outcomes that the games help users explore some of the complex issues that confront poor people. The games move beyond theory and information to action and personal investment.

While the cost of creating and supporting online games might prove problematic for many Christian nonprofits, simple games can be made for as little as $3,000, says Seggerman. However, $100,000 is the average cost.

The genre of social-action games is still in its infancy. Attendance at G4C's annual festival has doubled for each of the past five years.

World Vision New Zealand is one of the first Christian nonprofits to introduce its own games online. On its website, gamers can simulate delivering emergency aid to the survivors of an earthquake in India, and eliminate child labor as they play the role of a social worker.

"It's not possible to do a field trip for most to learn about these kinds of issues," Sharon Addis, global education writer at World Vision New Zealand, told Outcomes. "We're always looking for ways to make it real for young people, ways that help them connect with the issues, to understand the complexities and not just think, that's their problem and it's got nothing to do with me and my world. These young people grow up to be the next generation of supporters [and leaders] of our organization."