Applications open for GameChanger

Applications are now open for GameChanger, a four-day hackathon on gamificaiton and interactive story-telling. Designers, programmers, activists & NGOs should apply by 20 July.

GameChanger: Gamification & Interactive stories

What: Hackathon on creating educational quest games

Where: Prague, Czech Republic

When: 27-30 September 2018

Working language: Russian

Who can participate: Activists, IT specialists, illustrators and designers from Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Accommodation and travel: Covered by organizers.

Русская Версия

Why GameChanger?

Does your organisation have a track record of helping people and expertise in knowing how people can solve civic problems? Have you written reports, guides, brochures, websites or recommendations on the topic, but find people aren’t accessing the information or keep failing to follow your advice?  Then GameChanger is for you – a 4-day hackathon on how to turn guides and instructions into engaging and helpful quest-games.

Even in an overloaded media space, the format of interactive quest games and mobile apps can win the competition for attention, especially among young people. By making decisions for a character, players starts to sympathise with them and understand their perspective and problems. This experience changes the way a person looks at things and helps them to adopt new models of behavior. The format of a game helps to engage people’s attention and increases their motivation. It also helps to process difficult material and increases chances of the player sharing their experience on social networks.

After businesses and media, it is now NGOs turn to start using gamification as a tool. The costs of game development are going down and the number of qualified specialists is growing. Now is the right time to start experimenting.

Gamification in action

Finding Home, an interactive quest game for smartphones that was created by the UN Refugee Agency. It allows the users to see the world through the eyes of Khatijah, a 16-year old refugee from Burma who is looking for her older brother. 

 

At-Risk is a suite of interactive products to educate faculty, staff, and students of colleges and universities about mental health and suicide prevention to support improved academic performance, student retention, and campus safety. Playing for student or faculty staff you can choose what to say in conversations simulating real-life situations, and see the consequences of your decisions.

 

Master of Customs, an interactive browser game made in Ukraine makes it possible for everyone to taste the everyday life of customs. The authors of the game “firmly believe that as long as citizens are armed with proper awareness of what goes on in their government, they will be able to hold elected officials accountable in the fight against corrupt governance practices”.

What is GameChanger?

GameChanger is a hackathon for civic activists to work with gamification specialists, IT developers and illustrators to create prototypes of interactive quest games.

The workshop will give you a chance to
• Cooperate with specialists and create working prototypes of game apps that will help your organisation become more effective
• Cooperate with designers to create interesting characters who your audience can sympathise with
• Receive professional feedback on your ideas
• Strengthen your ability to work in a team under time pressure
• Meet activists and specialists from various countries
• Participate in masterclasses on gamification, storytelling and work on social media.

How does it work?

Selected activists will each be partnered with a designer and a programmer to help produce their idea. The teams will participate in webinars and homework assignments to develop their ideas and a ‘skeleton’ of their game. Those who successfully finish the assignment will receive recommendations from experts and will be invited to participate in the workshop in Prague.   

For every project participating in the workshop we will create a team that will consist of a professional illustrator and a programmer. The teams will have 4 days to create a working prototype of their game. A group of producers including gamification and mobile apps marketing specialists as well as copywriters will work with every team and help to choose the best format and decide on a distribution strategy for the final product.

Mini-grants will be available to the best projects to help fund the creation and launch of the game.

How to apply: Activists & NGOs

Any activists or NGO working on a civic or social issue in one of the eligible countries can apply for GameChanger. You do not need to have worked with the Prague Civil Society Centre before. We expect fierce competition and will select participants based on:

• Clarity of the application
• Professional competence
• Understanding of the project goals and target audience
• Strength of raw/source material that will serve as a foundation for the educational game
• A clear vision of how to distribute the game and access to the necessary communication channels and platforms.

Apply Here (NGOs & Activists only)

The deadline for applications is 20 July 2018.

How to apply: Programmers & designers

Any programmer or designer interested in working on social and civic issues can apply. You do not need to have worked with the Prague Civil Society Centre before. We expect fierce competition and will select participants based on:

• Eagerness to help NGOs develop social games
• Clarity of application
• Professional competence

Apply Here (Programmers & Designers only)

The deadline for applications is 20 July 2018.

Any questions please write to sofia@praguecivilsociety.org