Critique for upcoming post?
Bryant Francis
If you're familiar at all with the Half the Sky movement, then you know that it's an organization designed to raise activism and awareness around women's rights and women in poverty around the globe. What you may not know is that with the launch of the Half the Sky game today on Facebook, Half the Sky is daring to do what few games have before--catapult gamers into the world of international activism.
The game's basic premise isn't that far off from your basic Facebook games. You play as Radhika, a woman living in India who needs to gather coins and other items in order to accomplish story objectives like providing medicine for her daughter and taking her first steps as an international advocate for women's rights in impoverished areas. Most of the game is structured around minigames and micromanagement activities you might find in Farmville or Middle Manager of Justice. Except instead of crops or superheroes, you're dealing with challenges that for Rakidah, are a matter of survival.
Like other freemium Facebook games, there's no charge to play, but there are lots of opportunities to spend real money on in-game items. The difference is, while most in-game purchases go to profit the developers, Half the Sky sends your funds to charity instead. 80% of the money raised by Half the Sky goes to non-profits like the One organization, Room to Read, and World Vision. Even if players don't choose to pay themselves, they can still trigger donations from companies like Johnson and Johnson just by reaching certain milestones in the game.
That's all well and good, and certainly in line with other online charities that have sprung up over the last few years, but what makes Half the Sky's activism so unique is that it focuses on putting the player in Radhika's shoes, and guiding them through the various challenges of living in an impoverished India. Taking the game for a quick spin, I was struck by my reaction to the games' prompts for donation after completing specific quests. By helping Radhika gather books for her children's school, I felt a sense of accomplishment usually achieved by a typical "earn the points" emotion, but when the game gave me the option to make a real life donation, I suddenly felt like I had the ability to make an actual, physical difference in the world, based on the experience I'd already completed.
By allowing the player to simulate achievement inside the space of the game, they would feel more compelled to enact that achievement again in real life. Because of the partnerships Half the Sky has set up with specific charities and corporations, this feels much more actionable than going from Farmville to actually working on a farm.
This might be a sign of what gaming can do for social justice movements that other art forms can't. A Sundance award-winning documentary can take you inside the struggles of a third world nation, but a game could let you experience them firsthand. Telethons and charity concerts essentially entertain you while encouraging you to spend money, but can only share the experience of living in a troubled nation from the perspective of whoever's onstage with the microphone.
Half the Sky has the advantage of building on a game design model already centered around microtransactions and "simulation" style activities. In the 1990's, it might have manifested as a variation or mod on games like Civilization or Age of Empires, emphasizing resource and time management over reflexes and skill. But it also challenges game developers to imagine other ways to look at existing mechanics and how they could be reworked to encourage activism.
The most important element of Half the Sky is that it wants you to become immersed and educated in the challenges that Rakidah and women like her face on a day to day basis. While some at first might question the potential popularity of an "educational" game, it's worth remembering that despite the current "blockbuster" model with an emphasis on fun and excitement, some of gaming's most popular titles managed to tap into being educational experiences while improving the flow of the game. (Think Oregon Trail or Age of Empires).
And bluntly, because the game's being launched on Facebook, it'll have the potential to reach further than traditional console or PC-based audience--to people who might not have even thought about playing an activist video game on any other platform. With any luck, these are the decisions that could turn Half the Sky into more than just a Facebook game, and into a force for change for women in need around the globe.
Nick Capozzoli
Seems like it achieves your stated goal pretty well. I'll do a quick pass-through for basic editing, though (always helps to have a second read-through, right?):
If you're familiar at all with the Half the Sky movement, then you know that it's an organization [calling it both a movement and organization is confusing - go with one or the other, or explain why it's both] designed to raise activism and awareness around [of]women's rights and women in poverty around the globe. What you may not know is that with the launch of the Half the Sky game today on Facebook, Half the Sky [double usage - change one] is daring to do what few games have before--catapult gamers into the world of international activism.
The game's basic premise isn't that far off from your basic Facebook games. You play as Radhika, a woman living in India who needs to gather coins and other items in order to accomplish story objectives like providing medicine for her daughter and taking her first steps as an international advocate for women's rights in impoverished areas. Most of the game is structured around minigames and micromanagement activities you might find in [titles like] Farmville or Middle Manager of Justice. Except [don't lead with a preposition here] instead of crops or superheroes, you're dealing with challenges that for Rakidah, are a matter of survival.
Like other freemium Facebook games, there's no charge to play, but there are lots of opportunities to spend real money on in-game items. The difference is, while most in-game purchases go to profit the developers, Half the Sky sends your funds to charity instead. 80% of the money raised by Half the Sky goes to non-profits like the One organization, Room to Read, and World Vision. Even if players don't choose to pay themselves [revise, makes it seem like the players are giving themselves money], they can still trigger donations from companies like Johnson and Johnson just by reaching certain milestones in the game.
That's all well and good, and certainly in line with other online charities that have sprung up over the last few years, but what makes Half the Sky's activism so unique is that it focuses on putting the player in Radhika's shoes, and guiding them through the various challenges of living in an impoverished India. Taking the game for a quick spin, I was struck by my reaction to the games' [game's] prompts for donation after completing specific quests. By helping Radhika gather books for her children's school, I felt a sense of accomplishment usually achieved by a typical "earn the points" emotion [unclear; "earn the points" isn't an emotion - revise], but when the game gave me the option to make a real life donation, I suddenly felt like I had the ability to make an actual, physical difference in the world, based on the experience I'd already completed.
By allowing the player to simulate achievement inside the space of the game, they would [may/can/just might] feel more compelled to enact that achievement again in real life. Because of the partnerships Half the Sky has set up with specific charities and corporations, this feels much more actionable than going from Farmville to actually working on a farm. [I'd change out the passive voice here; it's a little awkward]
This might be a sign of what gaming can do for social justice movements that other art forms can't. A Sundance award-winning documentary can take you inside the struggles of a third world nation, but a game could [can] let you experience them firsthand. Telethons and charity concerts essentially entertain you while encouraging you to spend money, but can only share the experience of living in a troubled nation from the perspective of whoever's onstage with the microphone.
Half the Sky has the advantage of building on a game design model [sort-of redundant in this usage, strike "design"] already centered around microtransactions and "simulation" style activities. In the 1990's, it might have manifested as a variation or mod on games like Civilization or Age of Empires, emphasizing resource and time management over reflexes and skill. But [what is being contradicted, that necessitates the use of "But"?] it also challenges game developers to imagine other ways to look at existing mechanics and how they could be reworked to encourage activism.
The most important element of Half the Sky is that it wants you to become immersed and educated in the challenges that Rakidah and women like her face on a day to day basis. While some at first might question the potential popularity of an "educational" game, it's worth remembering that despite the current "blockbuster" model with an emphasis on fun and excitement [are fun and excitement really a "new" trend?], some of gaming's most popular titles managed to tap into being [awkward usage of "tap into" - revise] educational experiences while improving the flow of the game. (Think Oregon Trail or Age of Empires).
And bluntly, because the game's being launched on Facebook, it'll have the potential to reach further than traditional console or PC-based audience--to people who might not have even thought about playing an activist video game on any other platform. With any luck, these are the decisions that could turn Half the Sky into more than just a Facebook game, and into a force for change for women in need around the globe.
Rainbow colored for the lulz. I hope it helps! Feel free to ignore any of the edits.
-Nick
