Digital game do-gooders

The idea of using digital gaming to help activists, organizations, and policy makers to solve our many pressing social and environmental challenges is not a new one. But things seem to be heating up as there are many new efforts to develop the field in a strategic an cohesive way. Take Games for Change for example, a New York-based nonprofit that provides information and resources to change agents in areas such as human rights, economics, public policy, public health, poverty, the environment, and global conflict. One of G4C's tool kits appears above. These 'serious games' as they are called can take the shape of true video games, simulations, or designed virtual worlds and they are actually becoming quite prevalent, popping up in industries such as education, science, healthcare, emergency management, planning, and politics. Who would have guessed that all those hours of Frogger might some day save the world.