#sociallyvaluablegaming

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Socially valuable gaming

This week I did some online research into existing video games, targeted at primary age children, that develop empathy, aka Socially Valuable Gaming.

According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, in the US on average, youth between 8 - 18 years rack up more than 70 minutes of video gameplay daily. This spike in gameplay during adolescence coincides with an explosion in brain growth, as well as a time when kids are susceptible to first encounters with depression, anxiety, and bullying.

In 2018, researchers from University of Wisconsin-Madison decided to see if they could use video games for positive emotional development by designing a game to boost children’s empathy.

The game they created is called Crystals of Kaydor, and its aim was to use gaming technology to create games that are less addictive and also socially valuable*.

Crystals of Kaydor begins when a space-exploring robot crashes on an unfamiliar planet, leaving its spaceship unusable. The only way to repair it? Build emotional rapport with the local alien inhabitants. The problem is that the aliens speak a totally different language. Luckily, the aliens’ facial expressions are remarkably human-like. To win the game, kids have to learn to identify the type and intensity of emotion the alien’s faces are displaying, whether it’s anger, fear, happiness, surprise, disgust, or sadness. And as they played, the kids learn how to better understand emotions of their fellow humans.

In as few as two weeks, kids who played the game showed greater connectivity in brain networks related to empathy and perspective taking. Some also showed altered neural networks commonly linked to emotion regulation.

In 2016, another video game designed to build empathy was designed. It was called That Dragon, Cancer. It forced the player to experience what life was like for a normal suburban family after one of their sons, Joel, was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of one.

While it was dubbed ‘unforgettable’, 'remarkable’ and 'beautiful’ by critics,it was no doubt hard going for the young players.

That Dragon, Cancer highlights the distinction between a game that is overtly good for you and one that presents as entertainment. While I want to create something with a meaningful educational experience, my goal is to create a game that primary age children also want to play.

An article in Killscreen titled The Problem with Empathy Games highlights how video games that strive to forge empathetic connections between players and subjects rely on encouraging perspective-taking. And many game developers struggle to get players to form true emotional connections with the characters and storylines.

So how do you create storylines and characters that help players form these connections?

“You have to start with, ‘I want to take someone on an emotional journey. What is that emotional journey?’” Vander Caballero, Creative Director at Minority Media said about the development of empathy games in an interview with Gamasutra. “Then the question is, ‘what can I bring to someone’s life that’s going to be important and meaningful for them, a lesson that will help people in their life?’”

*Games that develop empathy skills can also benefit individuals on the autism spectrum.