Games – Kristen Baumlier

Category: Games

Massively Multi-Player Thumb Wrestling Makes You Feel Good

Posted on November 23, 2013November 25, 2013 by Kbaumlier

I recently saw a new TED talk by Jane McGonigal where she had the audience play her favorite game – Massively Multiplayer tThumb-Wrestling. In the opening of her talk, she promises the audience that if they play this game for one minute, they will experience 10 positive emotions that include creativiety, contentment, joy, relief, love, surpise, and excitement.

The game is an expansion of thumb wrestling. The principle of thumb-wrestling is simple. Two players take each others right hand and entangle their fingers – except the thumbs – forming a fist. The players then try to catch and freeze the opponent’s thumb.

To play the game Massivley-Player style, players form a group and play with 3 or four people. You also can play two games at once, being part of a group with your left hand, and other group with your write. As the number of players is unlimited, global thumb-wrestling may emerge through self-sustaining peer-to-peer networks and ad-hoc socializing.

In her talk, you watch as she asks each member of the audience to play, and they stand up and connect in to multi-player thumb circles, forming a large connected formation, where the whole audience playing the gmae.

In her talk, McGonigal talked about games and challenges “When we play a game, we tackle tough challenges with more creativity, more determination, more optimism, and we’re more likely to reach out to others for help.”

McGongigal has been doing research about games and emotions, and this talk supports her interest in interactions that create oxytotin in our brain, which makes us feel happy and also connected to others. In her talk she talked about emotions and said, “If you can manage to experience three positive emotions for every one negative emotion … you dramatically improve your health and your ability to successfully tackle any problem you’re facing.”

The Massively Multiplayer Thumb-Wrestling game was introduced in 2004 by the group monochrom which is based in Austria.

To experience the game, go find 3 friends and ask them to play or check out the video on TED.com.

Images and Links:

Jane Mcgonigal – TED Talk

monochrom.at- Massively Multiplayer Thumb-Wrestling

Did You Miss the Games for Change Festival? View the Keynotes Online

Posted on June 23, 2013June 28, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Games for Change (G4C) facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts that aim to leverage entertainment and engagement for social good. (akaGames for social good and change.)

Last year I had a great time attending talks and keynotes, playing the games that were nominated for awards, and meeting people from the digital games industry, gaming enthusiasts, educators, policymakers, activists, foundations and others.

I was not able to attend this year due to my recent move to North Carolina, but I recently took some time to check out some videos of some of the keynotes which included sessions and keynotes that you can watch online. Currently the videos are not tagged or labeled that clearly, but if you scan through you can view most of the talks from the first day.

I took some time today to watch a couple of the keynotes including:

Opening Keynote by Michael T. Jones from Google
(talking about local search, google maps, and other tools by Google’s Tech Advocate. He talked about redefining what a game is, and how games can affect the behavior of people on a global scale.

http://new.livestream.com/g4c/events/2136076/videos/21772941
(starts at 11 minutes in to the video)

Half the Sky Movement: The Game – Design and Impact

(A panel of experts from Frima Studio talk about the development of Half The Sky, a project made by Facebook, Zynga.com, and Games for Change that raises awareness and funds to empower women and girls across the world. The talk (which is 2 hours!) talks aobut the process and challenges of making a game that can raise money for girls and women.) The talk talked about how the majority of design focuses on products and services for the richest 10% of the population.

http://new.livestream.com/g4c/events/2136076/videos/21840199
(starts around 46 minutes into the video)

Another major component of the festival is the Games For Change festival is awards for the games with the best gameplay, most innovative, and most significant impact. I haven’t had time to check out the winner, but I will do so next week and post what I find.

Image Source:
http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2013/

Links:

http://new.livestream.com//g4c

http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2013/

http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2013/games/

Back Alley Brawl or The Smelly Closets Civics Game: Educational Games made by Grade School Students

Posted on July 16, 2012July 17, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Back Alley Brawl or The Smelly Closets Civics Game: Educational Games made by Grade School Students

What would an educational computer gams be like if a group of gradeschool students created them? Globaloria is a curriculum and learning system program where students create games. While doing so, they are part of a social learning network where they learn science, technology, engineering, and math. They also develop digital literacies and gain global citizenship skills. In the program, students work in teams to create games while working with their teacher gaming professionals, and other students online.

For the program the students follow the real-world design process and practice planning, prototyping, building, publishing, testing, and playing games.

This past year students participated in Globaloria and were from California, Florida, West Virginia, Texas, and New York. At the end of the year, students participate in a game design competition. The program is supported by government leaders, school systems, public, private, and corporate foundations.

Want to play Back Alley Brawl, The Golden Apple Civics Game, Elemental Elegance or the Smelly Closets Civics Game? These and other games made by students in the program are available to play at the Globaloria website.

I just spent some time trying out the game Gulf Coast Bird Rescue which was made in New York. I had to control the Commander of the Rescue Team (who looked like an octopus) and avoid the evil oil spills while trying to save birds. The graphics were crude but I enjoyed the idea of the game. I was able to easily move around using the arrow keys on my keyboard to pick up the birds. In the end – the oil slick got me. Good thing about games is that I can just play again.

Image Source:
www.globaloria.org

Links:

www.globaloria.org

Sweatshop: a Strategy Game from the U.K. about Clothes Production

Posted on July 5, 2012July 5, 2012 by Kbaumlier

When I went to the Games for Change conference last month, I attended a presentation by designer and producer, Simon Parkin who was part of the team that made the game Sweatshop. Sweatshop is a game that challenges players to manage an off-shore clothing factory, producing the latest in cheap designer fashions for Britain’s fashion district. The game was commissioned by Channel 4 in the U.K. (which is like our PBS station in the U.S.)

In his presentation, Parkin talked about in order for a game to be effective in exploring an issue it needs to not just tell a message that is predictable. For this game – if the game focused on telling the message, “Sweatshops are bad,” it most likely would not be a good game. He said that most of us already know that sweatshops are bad, but few of us understand the complex issues that keep these systems in place.

In making Sweatshop, the design team decided to make a game where players can experience what it is like to be the owner, manager, and factory worker in the game. The goal of the game was to challenge young people to think about the origin of the clothes we buy and the use. The game is a strategy game that puts the player in the role of a clothing factory’s middle management. The player is responsible for hiring and firing workers, ensuring that orders are completed in time and balancing the needs of demanding clients with worker welfare. Real-world problems such as fires, unions, and lack of toilets add authenticity to the game mechanics.

For the game, the team worked with British charity Labour Behind The Label to make sure that the game was accurate. After each level the player is presented with a fact that supports the themes of the level just completed with real world events.

I just played the game, and I enjoyed the cartoony graphics and expressions on the players faces. The game balanced information and fun enough for me to want to play it. I also appreciated that the game did not start out with lots of facts or a message that sweatshops are bad. The game was recently selected by MIT as one of the top five ‘Best Practice Serious Games’ and the university is currently writing a paper on the game.

Why do our clothes continue to often come from sweatshops? You can play the game online, and also view Parkin’s speech on the Games for Change Livestream page to learn more.

Image Source:
www.playsweatshop.com

Links:

www.playsweatshop.com

Simon Parkin – Games For Change Livestream Video about Sweatshop

www.littleloud.com/work/sweatshop

Kicked Out! – A Social Online Game for Teens About Using Money

Posted on July 3, 2012July 3, 2012 by Kbaumlier

When I was at the Games for Change Conference last month, I got a chance to talk to Anna Mostetschnig, who is Head of Research and Development of the game Kicked Out!, which is a game that teaches financial literacy in the increasingly popular game space of Facebook. The game explores how can you handle your money responsibly, and what are the consequences of your financial decisions.

Currently many young people in their twenties already hold an average debt of about $45,000. Katharina Norden, founder of Kicked Out! recently remarked that, “…Research supports the fact that if people don’t learn financial literacy skills before the age of 19, then spending patterns become internalized to the point where they’re extremely difficult to change.” The game was created in collaboration with psychologists, debt counselors and behavioral economists. The team behind the game come from Vienna, Austria and they have partnered with the game developers at ‘Team Vienna’ who have worked with Rockstar games on Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, other games.

So how do you play? In order to win at Kicked Out!, players must do well at navigating real-life financial situations, managing their daily finances and making long-term decisions while avoiding debt traps. The game is explored through trial and error, and you learn through the experience.

When I talked to Mostetschnig at G4C, she told me that this is the first Facebook that focuses on knowledge of financial decisions rather than focusing on “teaching.” She explained that knowledge does not lead to the experience, so the game approach is to be fun and a interesting experience. Issues like what does life really cost, what are the most common debt traps, are explored in the narrative of the game.

For the game you start out leaving your parents and getting your own apartment. You then have to decide how to decorate the apartment. You can invite your Facebook friends and have parties. If your party is successful you might have paty crashers like Lady Gaga or Justin Beiber. You can take pictures and post them in Facebook. Next day. Uh-oh. Your car just broke down and needs a $600 repair. Will you make it through the rest of the month?

Kicked Out! is currently working to develop this game independently and is using Kickstarter to get funds for the game. You can read more on the Kickstarter project website or at kicked-out.com

Image Source:
www.kicked-out.com

Links:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kicked-out/kicked-out