Games for Education...

... or for raising social consciousness.

Games for Education, or Edutainment, is the new buzz-word nowadays. Everybody and their brother seems to be wanting to get in on it.

Most of the time, the games that are produced as a result are not much more than thin multimedia layers over textbook material. I guess teachers aren't usually creative types by nature, and the design-y types don't really care too much for learning, so there's very little cross-fertilization.

However, every now and then, there comes a game which is creative, fun, and still manages to convey a message or deliver some content. I came across one of these recently: Darfur is Dying, a game designed to raise social consciousness about the atrocities in the Sudan.

It was strangely addictive, frustrating and heartbreaking. The sight of the Flash Janjaweed warriors thundering across the plain set my heart racing. The cacophony of the virtual refugee camp grated heavily on my nerves but at least I could turn it down!

If edutainment is to take off, we need more games like this.