tions—including WFSF—to bring her vision to
fruition.
of a topic as serious as design-
ing a policy mix for interna-
Help us understand the space. tional development?
What is Gamification? Is it the There are many good reasons to gamify the
SDGs; however, two of the most important are
same as Serious Games and
first, to educate the public and second, to create
Game-based Learning?
Gamification refers to the use of common game
elements to influence behavior. A tiered reward
structure, for example can encourage participa-
tion in a fitness routine, or facilitate the achieve-
ment of various educational goals.
Game-based Learning refers to the use of games
to educate through play. This can include board
games, video games, or other game play, inclu-
ding outdoor games. Parents and teachers have
been using game based learning for years. One of
my earliest memories of school was learning the
multiplication tables through a game that involved
racing a rocket (made of construction paper) to
the moon. Game-based Learning can also refer to
the design of entire curriculums. Quest to Learn,
a NYC-based school, is one example of a school
that integrates game-based learning in this way.
To learn about biology, for example, students mig-
ht spend the year working in a fictional biotech
company where their job includes cloning dino-
saurs and maintaining the appropriate ecosystem
to support them.
innovative ways to attain the Goals. Gamifying the
SDGs can motivate people to learn about them,
and it can also encourage behavior that supports
their attainment. As to how to make a game out
of a topic as serious as designing a policy mix for
international development, I can only speak to my
own approach, which is to include in the design
the means for players to take action to achieve
the goals. Educating without providing tools
for action is a recipe for learned helplessness,
apathy, and depression—conditions that are on
the rise.
Who is Cyberhero League de-
signed for? How does one
play the game and what is the
goal of the game?
The game, Cyberhero League, is designed for
youth, ages nine & up. The overarching goal is to
help young people learn that they can use digital
technology heroically—to help other people, ani-
mals, and the environment. The project grew out
of the desire to bring the “cyberhero” archetype
out of the academic literature so the younger ge-
Serious Games is a term that refers to games that
neration could grow up with the knowledge that
have another purpose other than entertainment.
an antithesis to the “cyberbully” exists—giving
They are used across a wide variety of profes-
them an opposite role model to embody. Gaming
sions and industries, including Futures.
is a form of storytelling and ultimately, since we
aim to expand the mythic and heroic imagina-
Why gamify the SDGs? And
tions, it felt like a good place to reach our target
how do you make a game out
64 HF |
April 2019
demographic.
Cyberhero League is an example of Game-based
Learning. Social-emotional learning is a big part
of the project, but physical activity and citizen ac-
tivism play important roles. The game is designed
around a series of quests tied to the missions of
our nonprofit partners. In the process of comple-
ting quests, players earn a variety of medallions,
badges, and crests—the achievement of which
unlocks aid for our nonprofit partners. We’ve also
partnered with the United Nations to achieve the
SDGs. To make the game’s goals more manage-
able, and fun, we’ve
grouped the 17 SDGs
into 5 Crests—”Vital,”
“Essential,” “Cardinal,”
“Planetary,” and “Uni-
versal.” In addition
to learning about the
SDGs, Players actual-
ly help achieve theg-
Goals through partici-
pating in Awareness
Events—commu-
nity-based events
that include activities
such as planting trees
and recycling.
What gamification and
games-learning trends are you
seeing now, and what do you
see on the horizon for games
as tools of empowerment and
engagement?
are trends in gaming and game-based learning.
Augmented reality is being used successfully in
museums, schools, and national parks. On the
horizon, the Internet of Things will have a huge
impact on gaming—not only will it usher in new
types of game play, but it will also impact Ga-
me-based Learning. I’m interested in designing
games that support engagement with the natural
world. Children—and adults—we all need to spend
time in and with the natural world. That’s how we
learn to love nature—and ultimately, what moves
us to protect it.
What and where next?
My next project, Gaia Genome Project, is a partici-
patory art project that involves gaming and citizen
science. In molecular biology, the genome of an
organism is its hereditary information encoded in
DNA. Thus, in strictly scientific terms, the “Gaia
genome” would consist of the hereditary informa-
tion encoded in the DNA of every organism living
on Earth. However, rather than mapping DNA,
through creatively envisioning an outward expres-
sion of that map, the goal of the artwork is to
help people visually see, cognitively understand,
and emotionally experience the interconnection
between all life forms. The aim is to motivate
participants to take actions to stop the tide of en-
vironmental destruction and support sustainable
futures. The Gaia Genome Project asks partici-
pants to imagine each specie as part of a larger
sequence, a sequence that can’t be understood
until the whole is present. The artwork will evolve
in tandem with participation—I’m currently see-
king collaborators and philanthropists.
Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR)
HF | Human Futures 65