The winners of the Games for Change Awards have been announced, and meditative first person effort Walden, A Game struck twice to take home the coveted Most Significant Impact and Game of the Year awards.
Developed by the USC Game Innovation Lab and designed by Tracy Fullerton, Walden puts players into the shoes of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau and asks them to relive his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Park.
The USC team hope the game will give players the chance to wrangle with Thoreau's ideas in an interactive and immersive way, and inspire them to think more deliberately about the choices they make in life.
Another notable winner was Tracking Ida, an alternate reality game inspired by the journalism of Ida B. Wells. The educational title nabbed the gong for Best Gameplay, and aims to teach people about Wells' crusade against lynching.
David OReilly's surreal exploration of life and the universe, Everything, was named the Most Innovative title at the show, while At Play in the Cosmos scooped up the People's Choice prize.
Last, but by no means least, Dragonbox Big Numbers was crowned the Best Learning Game for using the power of gamification to teach children about long addition and subtraction.
Outside of the main awards, Constance Steinkuehler, Professor of Informatics at University of California, received the Vanguard Award for her contribution to the advancement of Games for Change.
Game designer and author Bernie DeKoven was also awarded the Lifetime of Play prize for his dedication to the conversation around play and games for over 50 years.
No tags.
