The Wire

MicroProjects give us an opportunity to do two things: first, to discover, test, and tinker; and second, to show off our skills and ideas to the rest of the Global Mouse Squad network! This month, a treat for all you gamers. You’re going to start by doing what you do best - play!

Below, you’ll choose from one of three “Serious Games.” What are serious games? Well consider this...what if you took all the great features, goals, and mechanics of playing a video game and applied them to real-world issues? Would it help us learn more about the world, raise our awareness of how we can make a difference, or inspire us to make changes ourselves?

Below are three games, one of them was designed by young people like you from our friends at Global Kids!

Your goal: play any one of these three games and report back in a blog post with three things:

• A screenshot of your final score with your own review of the game (what you liked, wished were different, and might suggest to the developers if they were starting over).
• A one-paragraph writeup of a Serious Game design idea that you come up with on your own that addresses a local or global issue that's in the news or relevant to your community. Make sure to describe the game in detail: who are the character(s)? what’s the goal? what issue does it solve, or raise awareness for?

Don’t forget to label your post: November MicroProject!

3rd World Farmer: http://www.3rdworldfarmer.com
Ayiti: The Cost of Life: http://ayiti.newzcrew.org/globalkids/
Branches of Power: http://www.icivics.org/games/branches-power

Now Go Play!