| EVOKE: A Ten Week Crash Course In Changing the World |
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| Posted by Alex Aylett | |
| Friday, 05 March 2010 | |
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I remember reading once that video games were training the next generation of the world's jet fighter pilots. Not being much into jet fighters, I wasn't too impressed. The idea that video games can teach real world skills finds a more interesting (and less lethal) manifestation in Evoke, a new massively multi-player on-line game that went live last night. The game is part graphic novel, part primer on real-world development challenges, and part brainstorming, networking and mentorship program. Their tagline is: "Evoke: A Ten Week Crash Course In Changing the World." The aim: to motivate people to identify, understand and help solve the problems that they see around them. I love the slightly dark quality of the illustrations, and the captivating mix of fact and fiction that structures the game play. The game was designed by the World Bank as a way of encouraging a new generation of creative development problem solvers. The Bank calls them "social innovators." Interestingly, beyond the game play, ambitious players are invited to propose real-world projects and can get partnered up with mentors to help them along the way. The game is primarily targeting an African audience, but it's open to all. It can be played on a variety of bandwidths, and even via SMS (but only in South Africa for now). You can read an interview with Jane McGonigal, the game's creator over at WorldChanging. I'm really fascinated by the possibility of games as a way for people to imagine and create better futures. I'll be playing along -- at least for a little while -- so perhaps I'll see you in there. --- From the EVOKE page:
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