PopTech : Blog : Gaming Half the Sky for maximum impact

Gaming Half the Sky for maximum impact

Emily Spivack ( Bio / Posts ) | Friday, May 27, 2011 UTC

Today and tomorrow, Tech@State, an initiative of the U.S. State Department, is hosting its Serious Games conference to explore the mechanics of games, business and sustainability, design, education, and games for social change. On the panel entitled "The Future of Serious Games," Asi Burak from PeaceMaker and Games4Change, provided an introduction to the Facebook game adaptation of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s non-fiction best-selling book, Half the Sky, that he and his team are working on.

The challenge with Half the Sky in book form, Burak explained, is that the message conveyed is, more or less, preaching to the converted. A Facebook version of the game provides a transmedia approach, increasing the channels through which the book’s message is conveyed (there will be a PBS special as well) for multiple touch points.

Burak believes that with a Facebook game version of Half the Sky, the book’s main themes, focused on overcoming oppression and empowering women and girls in the developing world, can be more broadly embraced. Communities can be activated, awareness can be raised and action can be taken.

In the game, which has been funded by the USAID, players work to build a village and raise the quality of life of those villagers. Most importantly, the game concentrates its efforts on promoting women-oriented heath and education and reducing gender-based violence, oppression and poverty, key issues from Half the Sky. Through the game, the hope is that more stories about women and girls can be disseminated and virtual goods can become real world aid.

Stay tuned for the launch of Half the Sky’s Facebook game in the next few months. For more from the Tech@State Serious Games conference, check out the schedule and tune into the livestream.

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