We won! The Plastic Pipeline took home the inaugural award at Games for Change for Best in Environmental Impact. I am honored and humbled.
This is the acceptance speech I wish I had had time for (or prepared!):
This award shows how much global interest there is in using games to help spark change for the environment. There were submissions from over 50(?) countries, with this category receiving 17% of the submissions for the festival alone. Between this landslide of submissions and such high-level work as the UN's Play for the Planet, game developers are really stepping up for the environment.
But this year, games were especially stepping up for oceans. All three finalists, The Plastic Pipeline, Loddlenaut, and Wake: Tales from the Aqualab focus on our oceans and UN SDG 14, Life Below Water. I am hopeful this is part of a larger trend; the oceans need us.
Our own journey in this game and research started with my dear colleague Jennifer Turner pointing out, as she often does, that the US and China are number one....in plastic pollution. Currently, there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste in the ocean, and at least 1 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year. Recycling and other forms of consumer level action are important, but are just the cusp of solutions that can stem this tide. There is so much that can be done before, and after, consumer use of single-use plastics.
We wanted to make these solutions accessible, un-black boxing what policy wonks are discussing for those who are curious but may not already be part of the conversation. Our team was diligent in the policy research that is the backbone for this game, hoovering up solutions from across sectors and countries to make a game with impact. It seems to be working. In a pre and post test, we are seeing self-efficacy and knowledge about solutions increase, both critical to lowering that barrier of entry into environmental policy.
When doing work in serious games and trying to get these sort of impacts, it's important to remember what you find fun. I took inspiration from a childhood of playing Where in the World is Carmen San Diego and a pandemic of playing Animal Crossing for the feel of the game, and a team of storytellers to make policy come to life.
But we also took a critical approach to making the game accessible for non-gamers. FableVision is completely capable of a game with all the latest bells and whistles, but we wanted a game that could be played on a phone or Chromebook, and wasn't daunting technologically for any experience level. This is a global issue, and everyone deserves to understand what is at stake.
This award is an honor, as is the recognition from a community of people inspired to leverage the most powerful medium for change and impact. This will help guide us as we look to expand the game, to "level up" with new research surrounding policies like the global plastic treaty. There is more work to be done, but let's make it fun.
Director of the Wilson Center's Serious Games Initiative
4moI am incredibly proud of my team for this project, which we have taken around the US and abroad to great feedback. We not only brought policy research to life, but had a lot of fun doing it!