Online Games

Here you'll find games that can help students learn more about important humane issues (and that can be played directly online). These kinds of games are often called "Games for Change" or "Serious Games."

Know of other games for change? Tell us!

Ayiti: The Cost of Life
Ayiti explores the question: “What is it like to live in poverty, struggling every day to stay healthy, keep out of debt, and get educated?” In this complex role-playing game, players are in charge of determining what happens to a family of 5 in Ayiti. They must try to keep everyone healthy, while helping them get as much education as possible and make enough money to survive and thrive. The player has 4 years (divided into 16 seasons) to try to succeed, and has to choose a “strategy” at the beginning: health, education, happiness or money. Who will work, rest, go to school, volunteer, get health care? How will it be paid for? Each choice has a consequence (some positive, some negative). The game is somewhat complicated, with a variety of choices and actions necessary for each season. There are a couple of lesson plans that accompany the game, to help participants process their experience and/or think critically about the issues.

Climate Challenge
As the President of the European Nations, you must “tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office.” Players must determine which policies to choose for national, industry, trade, local and household categories, negotiate with representatives from other countries, while reducing climate change and maintaining relevant resources.

Darfur is Dying
What’s it like to try to survive in a refugee camp? In Darfur is Dying players take on the role of a Darfurian who tries to complete a variety of tasks in order to help his/her community survive, including foraging for water, obtaining food, building shelter and staying healthy. If a player can do all this and survive -- surviving attack, escaping capture, etc. – then s/he's “won.” Mousing over question marks scattered throughout the camp provides data about what life is like in a refugee camp. The game offers additional information about the plight of Darfurians in Sudan and suggests ways to help.
 

Global Warming Interactive
COxFX is “a web based multi-user educational game which explores the relationship of global warming to economic, political and science policy decisions. The game is driven by a systems dynamics model and is presented in a user friendly interface intended for the high school user….In this game students assume the role of scientific, policy, or economic advisor in a selected country. Their choices in these roles, how they allocate budgets, determine taxes, and protect land, is interpreted by the game and sent to the model. The model uses these values to recalculate the state of the county and globe.”

The Great Green Web Game
From the Union of Concerned Scientists, the GGWG is mostly a multiple choice trivia game. Participants choose an avatar, and then answer questions to move along a game board; the speed of movement is based on how well they answer the questions. There are factoids connected to each question, and when participants land on a star, they are given a scenario and asked to make a choice, such as "You've decided that you need a new car, but what kind of vehicle do you want to drive?" and then see how their choice impacts the planet. Some of the questions can be pretty challenging. Additionally, many of the alternatives don't provide a wide range of options (such as having to choose between different kinds of animal products, rather than having the option to choose none at all, or not being able to choose a bike instead of a car). Many of the questions repeat, so you wouldn't want an individual participant to play the game more than a few times. The game is also very U.S.-centric.

Karma Tycoon
In this game, players work to make the world a better place (and earn karma points) by starting and effectively running non-profit organizations (homeless and animal shelters, youth and senior centers, etc.). Players have to earn grants, outfit their nonprofits and successfully manage them. The more they help, the more karma points they get. Free registration is required. A curriculum guide for teachers is included.

Mission: Migration
Audubon New York has created an online game to help students learn more about bird migration and to encourage positive choices in helping birds "thrive and survive" around your home. The goal of the game is to "try to help your flock migrate safely by learning how choices you make each and every day around your home, school, and neighborhood can affect the fate of these migrating birds - in both positive and negative ways."

Players choose from four different types of birds, each of whom has different levels of speed, agility and stamina. The flock has to navigate hazards and obstacles (such as storms and planes) and find safe places to land (no pesticides, poisons, pollution, etc.) in order to rest and feed. Flocks must maneuver through different types of "habitat," such as farmland, suburban neighborhoods, etc.

Planet Green Game
Players choose an avatar (a virtual character to represent them) and a mode of transportation (walk, bike, car, etc.) and travel through the town of Evergreen to visit different destinations, learn about climate and sustainability issues, and make choices that have different impacts. Players pick up bonus points in different ways. One nifty aspect is linking parts of the game with what cities from different parts of the world are doing to counteract global warming and promote sustainable living. There are also opportunities for further actions to take. And, the theater even has a few mini-movies (about sustainability issues, of course.) A project of Starbucks.

A Seat at the Table
This game is from Oxfam. Participants choose a character, are given a basic scenario, and then are asked to make choices, based on the life and options available for that character. For example, one character is a widow with three children, living in Mozambique, and trying to grow crops on a small plot of land. She has to make choices such as whether to take her sick child to the doctor, whether to allow an investor to lease her land (the only thing of value she owns), whether to move to the city, etc. Each choice comes with a (positive or negative) consequence. There are also little factoids about the culture and circumstances of the characters.

Stop Disasters
In this game, players choose one of several disaster scenarios. The goal is to “plan and conduct a safer environment for your population,” such as reinforcing buildings, building defenses, etc. There are different types of disasters and different difficulty levels. Once the disaster occurs, players can see how well the choices they made helped protect the village.
 

Third World Farmer
For this game, players manage a farm in Africa and must make decisions that will determine whether their family prospers…or starves. Players decide what kinds of crops to plant and how many, whether to buy tools and other improvements and how to deal with education, illness, poor harvests and other challenges.

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