Games modeling GNP vs. alternative progress indicators?

[Doug Maynard]

Dear Games for Change folks -

I am working with a colleague (Tim Kasser at Knox College) on a research project investigating how different types of indices for progress might affect the decisions that people make. For example, many nations use something like Gross National Product (GNP) which is based upon mostly economic information presumed to be of value for a capitalist society (e.g., high levels of employment, wages/business income/profit, investment, production and exportation/consumption). Alternative indicators include Redefining Progress's Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) or Bhutan's Gross National Happiness which tend to focus more on factors such as psychological and physical health, community, civic engagement, environmental sustainability. While there are groups who strongly favor these alternative indicators, we know little about the extent to which people (e.g., policy makers, citizens) might act differently when provided with one set of information versus the other. Before we go and design something ourselves, does anyone know of a game or simulation where players make resource allocation decisions or other choices, based upon such types of information? Ideally, the game could be set/manipulated/modified to create different informational conditions (how do people act when presented with GNP info vs. alternative info or even both types of info?). The game could be at any of several levels - such as the family level, community level and so on - it wouldn't have to be at the national level necessarily. Finally, we are open to either a digital or analog game.

Even if there's nothing out there that fits this bill, we would be interested in exploring related games that might stimulate our thinking. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

~Doug

[ch...@springbaystudio.com]

Hi Doug,

 

We had developed a game called “Balance” a few years ago. It is not the exact game that you are looking for, but it highlights the interconnection among population, natural resources and technology. As I understand, there are also many factors for any of the progress indicators as you mentioned. The goal of “Balance” is to challenges players to find the harmony among civilization improvement, nature and human race, explore the best possible civilization path for mankind. It aims to provoke thoughts on how scientific and technical progress impacts us and the natural world we live in.

 

Hope it is helpful to you!

 

Kind regards

 

Jane Ji

 

President

Springbay Studio Ltd.

Toronto, Canada

416-389-1004

www.springbaystudio.com  

Twitter: @SpringbayStudio

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpringbayStudio

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Games for Change" group.
 
To post to this group, send email to
gamesfo...@googlegroups.com
 
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
gamesforchang...@googlegroups.com
 
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/gamesforchange?hl=en
 
By opting into this Google Group, you are also opting into our bi-monthly newsletter which we will send to you via the e-mail address you are using for the Google Group.

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Games for Change" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gamesforchang...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Rachel Bolstad]

hi Doug,

I'm new to G4C but I am extremely interested in your research/your question and I'd love to stay informed about what you are doing! 

I'm specifically very interested in how this same idea about different indices for progress would apply in the context of  education systems and the kinds of measures and metrics that tend to drive system-level decisions - what kinds of  measures of "success" are currently are collected and valued, what other information  is not gathered and used in this way but, if more readily available, analysable, and accorded sufficient value, might lead to very different kinds of decisions around how we shape learning environments and opportunities.

It's fascinating to think about how games can create conditions where the players have to weigh up different information and make decisions where they can explicitly see the tradeoffs that are involved with choosing one option over another, and also the consequences of their choices. I.e. making the hidden or 
"unintended" consequences more visible in ways that in real life we are often able to mentally screen off or ignore. Do games provide a medium for practicing different kinds of decision-making within more complex data frames, and does this practice actually translate to outside-of-game changes in thinking? I guess these are questions you are looking at in your work...they are very important educational questions certainly. 

It would be so powerful to have research evidence to indicate whether games and simulations are an effective tool for supporting the development and capability for complex systems thinking, and under what conditions. I'm also interested in games which create a condition where the weighing up of different complex information about the consequences of different choices/prioritisation of goals happens between multiple players. At the New Zealand Council for Educational Research we designed a role-play workshop game along these lines called "Curriculum for the future" - the players themselves generate the ideas and information that other players have to weigh up and make judgements about. We are currently working on adapting the idea to a digital version so the research questions you are looking at would be really useful and helpful for us too. 

I will be watching this thread and your work with great interest!!

Rachel

Rachel Bolstad Senior Researcher
New Zealand Council for Educational Research | DDI: 04 802 1382 |  www.nzcer.org.nz  
Level 10, West Block, Education House, 178-182 Willis St, PO Box 3237, Wellington

  

The information contained in this email is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient, please respect that confidentiality and do not disclose, copy or make use of its contents. If received in error, please delete and contact the sender immediately. Thank you.

[Doug Maynard]

Thank you very much, Jane, for sharing your studio's work. We will definitely check it out!

~Doug

[ch...@springbaystudio.com]

No problem, Doug. I hope it is helpful. Please feel free to reach me for any questions.

 

Kind regards,

 

Jane

--