Presentation by Knight Foundation at Games for Change Festival 2012 on 7 Lessons from Funding Social Impact Games. Insights from an in-depth evaluation of two real-world games: Macon Money an alternative local currency game and Battlestorm a youth-based physical game on hurricane preparedness.
Good afternoon everyone Thank you for coming to sessionMy name is Mayur (VP) and I’m joined by Ben Stokes (USC Games Lab, close advisor)We’re looking forward to what should be a rich discussion unfortunately colleague jg unable to make it – two other people in audience (Tracy & Madeleine Taylor)Ben and I are going toa) Quick overview of gamesb) 7 big lessons Knight learned from funding real-world social impact gamestalk about implications for fieldsituated engagement role of assessment and evaluation in game field. There’s one serious danger associated with this panel…..that is your panelists are going to be self-moderated…so to avoid us…We’re happy to answer questions you have at any stage, so please feel free to interrupt us….ensure time at end for questions….So let’s get started….
This is what keeps us up….How can we tap into innovation in other sectors and How using our capital, relationships and knowledge assets apply them to complex issues
With this in mind, KF been exploring game theory and strategy as a way to tackle complex issues for a while….Began journey space by looking at digital news games to support journalism and how share, produce, consume media and information…More recently – experimented with real-world impact games, games played in physical environments….- that’s the topic of today’s discussion…Our interest in this genre stemmed from desire to understandHow games can help build community, bring residents together to tackle local issues While a lot of research on video games and learning, less attention paid to real-world physical gamesExcited to share with you results of an extensive evaluation we did on two games funded Partners were Cause communications and Network Impact – Madeleine Taylor here…
These are two real-world games….Macon Money – an alternative connect and attract & expose to local businessesBattelstorm – a youth-based physical activity game to help encourage So I know how much detail to go into….Can I get a quick show of hands…who has heard of Macon Money? Hands down…who had heard of Battlestorm?Give overview….Dive into the lessons learned and results from evaluation…
Why Gulfcoast?Quick context: Knight Foundation had a longstanding commitment to Biloxi and Gulf Coast in our fundingGame tied to support to help community grow and recover from devastation of hurricane Katrina and be better prepared next time.
Fast-paced team sport – combo dodgeball, capture-the-flag, team handball, and freeze tag. Kids play as the town against the hurricane…to transport balls from one side of court to the other….Game integrates elements of hurricanes (like storm surges, flashflights, shelters) into game play…* Teams can earn tokens as people in community upload photos of hurricane prep kit to website* Months of prep - Culminate in a community wide event – one team declared winner
Shifting gears here to give quick context on Macon Money…Knight Foundation longstanding commitment to Macon Since2008, involved in a revitalization effort of the city began with effort to engage community residents in creating what the College Hill Corridor Master Plan to create "a physical, cultural and social path to connect Mercer University and Downtown Macon”Attachment and belonging in cityPromote interaction between members of the community - university students…Attract and expose residents to local businessesBuild on existing revitalization efforts
Residents of Macon could request a Macon Money bond, either at an event or online – also distributed out through various events…Bond received was only half of one total bond that had three symbol combinationPlayers had to search through friends, online or at events for someone who had the other half. Once two players had connected to make a match, they could redeem their complete bond for Macon Money, a new local currency, which they could spend at participating local businesses.
Play for you data visualization of the game activity – happened online and offline. a) Highlighted area is 3 zip codes targeted for game and focus of revitalizationb) Photos show some of matches being made between people - In total more than 3,500 residents played in six month period c) Colored circles show the local businesses - 41 local, independently owned businesses participated – all part of revitalization aread) Tags on bottom show – events connections made at, bond redemptions, facebook activity. 53% of bonds that were distributed were redeemed for Macon Money Bills -- 99% of bills handed out were spent
Gone over quickly the design….Any brief clarifying questions about the games or the mechanics before we move to the results from the evaluation….
Big question – did the games work??Yes and no – And not always in the way that we thought they would…Fantastic successes, surprises and some challenge Rich experiments learned a lot
Full evaluation report in the conference packet goes summarizes main findings We’ve learned a lot – I’m going to go through 7 key lessons from the games about where the two games were most effective and what means for games and social impact…Lessons – experiences of a funder in this space…..Some of these tie to elements that are well known from existing research, but still useful to see how it played out in the two games…..
Games can engineer serendipitous interactions between people that build social capital in communities. Macon, 2/3rdsmatches by players were with people previously unknown to them and, of theseOver 3/4swere with people whom they reported as unlikely to meet based on their differences – random nature of the game….20 percent of these matches led to further personal contact – including one marriage!15% of those did become friends on FacebookInterestingly, 71 percent of players surveyed said they’d recognize their matches and say “hi” if they saw them again in the street. Why does this matter? Because researchers have long showed that people feel safer and more connected when they recognize friendly faces where they live. One thing we did notice about player participation is that - African Americans were generally underrepresented in the game compared to their percentage of the Macon population, and outreach efforts to boost their participation largely failed.
Importance of linking strategic play to knowledge gainsIn Battlestorm, surveys indicated that players did not significantly improve their understanding of hurricanes (when compared to control group….)We then looked at is this a preparation for learning….paving the way for learning-related applications of games like Battlestorm. We tested this be designing a curriculum after the game was over and there was little difference compared to a control group.there was one intriguing exception to these limited knowledge gains: kids were able to better identify items that go into a hurricane prep kit, such as a flashlight, as these were elements used as ‘power tokens’ in the game to boost a team’s advantage. In short, concepts that were most directly tied to game strategy produced the greatest knowledge gains.
Games are powerful liberating structures that allow people to test new patterns of behavior in a playful and secure environment.* In Macon Money, residents took advantage of their free currency to experiment with new spending habits*46% of players surveyed spent their bills at a local business they’d never frequented before92% of those players report returning to those businesses after the game. Early to see major changes….but businesses also noted – changes….85% players surveyed said the game improved their perception of amenties in target revitalization areaReverse side – exploration (also helped local businesses dip their toe in the water more with social media)
Importance of Play as Catharsis - unique entry point for role playing and dealing with difficult issues. This is well known connections in the literature on therapeutic play – but wasn’t something we were necessarily expecting from the game….stood out in all the interviews with parents and children…In Battlestorm, most of the families of children that played the game had experienced the trauma of Hurricane Katrina. The game triggered conversations about hurricanes that were cathartic and helped families process their emotional experiences.76% of the parents of Battlestorm players believe that games like Battlestorm can help children who experience emotional or psychological trauma related to hurricanes
Share with you some of the focus group footage with parents and kids who played shows that the game aided families in processing past traumatic experiences and had a cathartic effect1.30 minutes – but it’s worth watching. Powerful stuff…..
Turn games into successful conduits that spread the message and social content of a game to their families, friends and communities.The majority of children that played Battlestorm (68 per cent) went on to spark conversations with their parents and friends about hurricane preparedness and having a family evacuation plan (saw this in the video)A third of the parents reported learning something new from their child who played the game. Parents of players talked with their kids about how to be prepared and about having a family evacuation planAfter the game…(baseline) – significant jumps inplayers had spoken with a friend about how to be prepared for a hurricane (445)vs. only 23% at baselineExample: After a conversation with his daughter, one parent put their family’s important paperwork in plastic bags,update the family’s flood insurance, new hurricane prep kits.
Games often about the future –future oriented new experience, etc. asking people to think differently….take a leap Infusing novelty of real-world games with a community’s historical identity and symbols encourages greater ownership of the experience and adoption of the technology.In Macon, using the city’s historical pictures and icons on the Macon Money bills and visuals gave the game a distinct local brand that residents took great pride in playing. For example, on Macon Money bill – we managed to secure rights to Otis Reading’s image to use on the bills (Otis Reading being one of the most famous sons of Macon)….Cultural competency is King….
Love this image – doesn’t look like your regular hacker…Player activities that improvise on a game’s underlying structure should be embraced rather than discouraged.In Macon Money, local business started setting up their own ‘find your match’ events to help drive traffic to their stores and offering discounts that help leverage….We learned quickly not to control these things….. A sign of a game’s success is when players begin layering additional activities onto a game that you never expectedLetting go!
