Community Discussions

"Gaming" on the CoLab

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Josh Introne May 18, 2011 08:39 Member 1 \| Share via:	As several community members have observed, games can drive engagement and educate their players. How can we employ games on the CoLab while preserving the goal of generating actionable solutions to climate change?
Mike Matessa Sep 1, 2011 07:42 Fellow 2 \| Share via:	Earning badges for all possible activities (filling out profile, voting, commenting, debating, proposing, ...) would show at a glance how active a member is. Having empty spaces for unearned badges could motivate a member to engage in more activities.
James Greyson Sep 3, 2011 04:44 Member 3 \| Share via:	Good to raise the idea of badges Mike, thanks. Some people love 'em and some not. It would e good to hear from anyone who really loves badges and would do more here if they were offered. Another approach (not really about games, sorry) is for the site itself to encourage participation. Sending messages, commenting, tweeting, asking questions are all good ways to build the buzz. We can ensure the site is as easy to use as possible and that people know clearly what 'prize' is on offer. Pictures could be added besides usernames to make it more personal. Possibly some pages (eg profile, messages) could be tailored to add a friendly reminder to encourage members to complete their profile with pic and 'about me' info. Maybe members who have been inactive for 2 months could get a special mass-mailing asking for their involvement with new exciting content on the site? Lots of possibilities for the future. Games are interesting too as big long-term projects. I like this game-like 'greenhouse gamble' wheel from the MIT Joint Program, http://globalchange.mit.edu/resources/gamble/policy.html
Nishadh K.a. Sep 3, 2011 10:20 Member 4 \| Share via:	Strategic simulation games would be a nice start. On line social networking games like FarmVille can be followed for this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmVille. Game play can be the management of environment on the scenario of climate change predictions with outcomes based on adoption of different emission targets, policies or technology. Best managing player or team will be the winner.
Deborah Phelan Sep 4, 2011 06:03 Member 5 \| Share via:	Oxford-based developer Red Redemption gained a silver medal at the 2011 International Serious Play Awards held last month at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington state (http://www.seriousplayconference.com). The award came for 'Fate of the World' (http://fateoftheworld.net/), in which players must decide how to respond to natural disasters, dwindling food and energy resources, population growth and other complex challenges based on genuine current situations. The game was developed as a sequel to BBC Climate Challenge, a game exploring climate change issues developed by Red Redemption for the BBC and played by more than a million people and counting ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/ ).