3. Games as a Tool for
Engagement
Playing games can bring together fundamental
aspects of psychology, sociology and technology to
engage people for social change.
72% of American households play computer and
video games.
Have seen the rise of games in popular culture with
video games and reality television competitions
Games engage the public’s imagination
4. Why fund social impact
games?
Knight Foundation aims to increase the ability of
individuals to engage in change
Seeking innovative ways to make that happen
Research on digital games shows they can improve
learning and influence behavior
Knight wanted to see if the same was true for
games that took place in the real-world, with real-
people, in real-time
5. Why fund social impact
games?
Funded two pilot projects:
– Battlestorm in Biloxi, MS,
– Macon Money in Macon, GA
Macon Money – Knight partnered with local
organizations and residents on a game that fosters
new connections between people and with local
businesses by creating a local currency to spend in
participating stores and restaurants.
7. Goal: Engaging youth and their families
in hurricane preparedness with activities
focused on youth as leaders.
8. A new way to engage kids around hurricane
preparedness and get them interested
– Give them a new language to use to talk about
hurricanes
Influence the behavior of parents and
community
Empower youth to act safely and take
responsibility during dangerous storms and their
aftermath
9. Why the Mississippi
Gulf Coast?
In the Gulf Coast Region – levels of
preparedness had not increased in past 5 years
Could tap into Boys and Girls Clubs’ afterschool
programming
Committed to recovery and resiliency through
previous grantmaking efforts – Gulf Coast
Community Foundation, Habitat for Humanity,
Knight Nonprofit Center
10. Partners and Cities
IP Center
Forest
Heights East Biloxi
Qatar Center
Hancock
County
11. What can be learned about
potential uses of real world
social games?
How did the game operate
as a tool for community
engagement?
How can this game be used
as a template for other
communities or issues?
12. Advisory Board: Consulted on
Game from Soup to Nuts
James Paul Gee, Arizona State University,
Digital Literacies, Situational Learning
Beth Kolko, Univ of Washington , Berkman Center,
Digital Games Research Group
Tracy Fullerton, USC, Electronic Arts Games
Innovation Lab,
Ben Stokes, USC, Co-founder, Games for Change
13. New game: combination of
dodgeball and freeze tag
493 players total in 5
communities on Gulf Coast
10 - 14 year-old boys and
girls, after school at Boys and
Girls Clubs
March – May, 2011
15. Iterative Approach to
Game Design
Tap into community character Intensive
development process for designing the game
that started by understanding the community
Fun is paramount! Kids have to want to play
the game
Tap into existing local networks for players,
team support and big event
Make hurricane prep a public, social effort.
16. How to Play
Youth from different neighborhoods play on teams
representing the “Town” against Navy See Bees
representing the “Hurricane”
Town teams can earn tokens as people in their
community upload photos of hurricane prep kits to the
game website
Tokens can be cashed in to buy extra powers like
“Shelter” (which goves teams a safe zone on the court)
or “Flashlight” (which removes a Hurricane player)
Months of practice culminate in a tournament
18. Community Involvement
Big Event tournament -- youth played against
Team Hurricane of Navy Seabees
Photos of family’s and friend’s prep kits
uploaded to game website give “power boost” to
Attendees took home a prep kit from watching
the tournament and the winning team took an
additional 500 kits home to their neighborhood
to hand out
20. Pathways for Change
Players would learned about hurricane prep from
game which would also prepare them for future
learning
Game would leverage youth as “superconductors”
for information for their families and communities
Parents of players would become more
knowledgeable and prepared
Game would trigger conversation, catharsis, healing
21. Pathway 1:
Knowledge Gain and Prep for
Future Learning
Least effective results (although important to note
that game was not designed around learning or
knowledge gain)
Surveys confirmed that players learned little about
hurricane characteristics or behavior
Game did not prime kids to learn about hurricane
prep more easily in the future
Knowledge gains limited
22. Knowledge Gain and Prep for
Future Learning
Three exceptions…
1. Linking game strategy to specific concepts was
connected to learning retention
2. Small but significant increase in knowledge of
hurricane prep kits items
3. Higher quality of questions asked about hurricanes
and hurricane prep post-play
25. Youth as “Superconductors”
of Information
Research has shown that conversations can
lead directly to action, which is why this potential
pathway is so important.
Game was a trigger for conversation and
preparation (disaster prep needs a trigger)
26. Youth as “Superconductors” –
Talking with Parents
68% of Battlestorm players started/continued
talking with parents about hurricanes vs. only
38% in control group
One third of parents reported learning something
new about hurricane prep from their child who
played the game
28. Youth as “Superconductors” –
Talking with Parents
Example: After a conversation with his daughter,
one parent put their family’s important paperwork in
plastic bags
Example: One player interviewed his grandparents
to make sure they had all of the materials they
needed to make a prep kit
Example: a girl from East Biloxi told her father that
she was playing a game about hurricanes, which
reminded him to update the family’s flood insurance
30. Youth as “Superconductors” –
Sharing with Friends
After the game…
– 44% of players had spoken with a friend
about how to be prepared for a hurricane vs.
only 23% at baseline
– 40% of players had spoken with a friend
about what goes into a hurricane kit vs. only
10% at baseline
32. Parents More Knowledgeable
and Prepared
25% of parents learned something new from
watching the game
Families of players had more hurricane kit items
after the game
After the game…
– 65% of parents had spoken with their kids about how to be
prepared, what goes into a prep kit, and about having a
family communication plan
– 59% of parents had spoken with kids about a family
evacuation plan
34. Conversation as Catharsis
Talking about games allowed families to process
experiences and talk about hurricanes in an
empowered way
– More than half of Battlstorm parents surveyed confirmed
that their family was directly effected by Katrina
– Of those, nearly 1 in 5 said their children continue to
experience symptoms caused by the storm
– 75% of players’ parents believe that games like
Battlestorm can help children withemotional or
psychological problems related to hurricanes
37. Challenges:
Submit your Kit
33% of families received kits at Big Event rather
than through self-preparation
Kit assembly component not promoted adequately
with instructors and families
Digital divide did play a small role
Additional training on how to take pictures of kits
and how to upload photos to the website could have
helped this component
39. Challenges:
Community Partner Engagement
Partner contributions could have been more
strategically integrated or coordinated
Participation in the Big Event could have been
leveraged more effectively in community/with
partners
Needed more explicit explanation of game’s goals
and purpose with audiences such as instructors,
parents, and partners
40. Challenges:
Community Partner Engagement
Positives:
– Partners did see opportunity to promote
preparedness AND physical activity at the
same time
– Partners saw value of engaging young people
as levers for community change
41. Best Practices: Set Up
Games require significant local staff who have
both time and talent!
Multi-stakeholder approach is key in game
development and implementation (e.g., Game
designers, foundation, community leaders,
community partners)
Don’t leave partnerships to chance - Intra-
organizational partnerships need orchestration and
coordination
42. Best Practices: Game
Design
Games can be a catalyst for awareness,
attitudinal, and/or behavior change
Balance fun and Education - Fun is paramount,
but tie context and concepts explicitly not implicitly
Link game strategies to learning outcomes
Be thoughtful about conveying the social purpose of
game to players and partners
44. Best Practices:
Implementation
Evaluators can play an important role in
mid-course corrections; monitoring
implementation is critical
Strategic communication can be key to
engaging players, partners and community
in game and Big Event
45. Replication
Recommendations
Customize for other types of disaster
preparedness; not “generic hazard”
Create a discussion guide for instructors to bridge
in-game and out-of-game experience
Consider integrating into schools vs. after-
school programs
Improve “Submit Your Kit” mechanism with
early outreach and greater visual clarity; game
mechanic may still be valid
46. Replication
Recommendations
Improve Big Event coordination, logistics, and
promotion; focus as much on spectator experience
as on player experience to engage community
Think about follow-up communications that can
leverage increased learning preparedness from
game
– Could include a scavenger hunt element for kit creation
that is done as part of team
47. Battlestorm In Your
Community
Documentation designed to help anyone
interested in creating Battlestorm in their
community can be found at this link
http://battlestormgame.org/battlestorm-in-your-
community/
48. More on Knight and Social
Impact Games
Please visit: Knightfoundation.org/games/
49. Evaluation and
Assessment Methodology
Pre- and post-game survey to players with a control group
Post-game focus group with players
Pre- and post-game survey to players’ parents/adults care-
givers
Participation observation of game practices and Big Event
Exit survey to Big Event audience
Baseline and follow-up interviews with community partners
Interviews with game advisory board and Area / Code
Surveys as part of a process to test the game’s effect on
“preparation for learning”
