The World Bank Institute and alternate reality game designer Jane McGonigal have unveiled Evoke, a new ARG seeking to empower young people around the world, especially those in Africa, to come up with creative solutions for real world problems like food security, energy, disaster relief, poverty, education, global conflict, water access, disease, hunger, and more.
McGonigal says the goal for the game is to “build up our global capacity to change the world in as short a time as possible, for as many people as possible”. She explains Evoke in an interview with Worldchanging:
“Every week for 10 weeks (starting March 3), there’s going to be a new [graphic novel] episode about social innovators working out of Africa. They travel around the world solving epic crises, like food shortages or power outages in major cities.
Players take on three missions each week. They learn—basically, filling their brain with information about the topic. They act—doing something in real life to implement what they’ve learned. And they imagine. What could they do about this problem today if they had a team, money, and resources? That’s what social innovation is all about—scaling up local solutions to make big, sustainable solutions that can spread.”
In the first week, for example, Evoke will present Episode 1: Social Innovation, a scenario in which Tokyo suffers a major famine ten years from now. As part of the game, players will learn about food security issues and must do something in real life to increase the food security of at least one person in their life.
During Evoke’s 10 episodes, experts from World Bank Institute and other organizations will watch, mentor, and give feedback. Players that complete the ten challenges will be recognized as a “Certified World Bank Institute Social Innovator – Class of 2010″, while top players will receive online mentorships with social innovators and business leaders, as well as scholarships to share their vision at an Evoke Summit in Washington D.C.
Though the ARG designer says that the game’s ideal audience is young people in Africa, Evoke is open and free to play for anyone. The World Bank Institute is working with universities in the country to bring the game to classrooms. McGonical believes that if they could get help 50 students in Africa through the game with a social enterprise ready to pitch, Evoke would be a “huge win.”
You can learn more about Evoke and how to play at its official web site.
[Via Superpunch]
Original post editors@gamesetwatch.com (Eric Caoili)
RSS
