Social Change "i Have No Words and I Must Design"

In 2007 The Economist Group released a game titled Energyville. This social game touches on both economics and the environment. Energyville is a game that enables players to choose how they wish to supply energy to the city they are given. At the start of the game one chooses the name of his or her city and then proceeds to get right into game play. The goal of the game is to provide the necessary power to all aspects of your city (transportation, office buildings, housing, factories, etc) while keeping the economic energy cost, security risk, and negative impact on the environment as low as possible. Energyville allows players to select various different sources of energy ranging from standard petroleum to hydrogen power with several methods in between such as biomass, solar, or wind to name a few. Once your city is powered, you advance to the next level. The game starts in the year 2007 and ends in 2030 with one stop at 2015. The two levels take place in the year 2007 and 2015 respectively.

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However, in between the levels certain events may occur that could alter how a player wishes to power his or her city. For instance, a terrorist attack in a different city may cause petroleum and oil based energy to rise in cost. . At the second stage, players must find a way to provide more power to their city, while taking into account the events that occurred during the years in between. One must also be sure to monitor the negative impact on the environment, energy cost, and security risk levels of their city. In order to achieve the highest possible score, players must keep all three of these gauges as low as possible. Ultimately, the game is trying to teach players about alternate forms of energy, and each methods impact on our society.

In any game made to promote social change or even social awareness of an issue, it is imperative that the developers achieve a balance between providing useful information about the cause, and entertainment value. The trouble with games...

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