Can videogames be serious? Whosegame (by Orange.fr) is a publishing and sharing site for user-made videogames and they are running an interesting experiment about "Serious Games" (or, as Ian Bogost calls them, games with an agenda).
The experiment takes the form of a contest, in which users are requested to create a game on a specific subject to be chosen among 3 proposals:
- improve your knowledge in the telecommunications field;
- be an eco-citizen with the help of telecommunications;
- acting against isolation and exclusion thanks to telecommunications.
In order to make the contest more accessible to non-developers and maximize the amount of ideas that can be thrown into it, whosegame provides a platform game rapid development tool.
Creating a platform game that conveys such messages is a challenge, but it might be worth a try. What about setting up a collective initiative to create a simple game (and then, just in case, send the prize to an NGO or a charity)?
What's needed? Ideas for gameplay, concept
development, graphics (main character and
NPCs, scenery,…), level construction and time to spend on the platform… Leave a comment with your preferred subject (among the 3 listed above) and if we reach critical mass, then I'll set up a NovaPage for the project and invite you on board.
