Designing a Game to Help Reduce Euthanasia at Animal Shelters
Terry
I am a veterinarian who works for a university teaching Shelter Medicine to veterinarians. I am charged with bringing the classes online to offer via distance learning to help train practicing veterinarians and veterinary students at other colleges in the developing field of Shelter Medicine. Every year, millions of homeless pets are euthanized because the animal shelters are overfilled. Shelter Medicine studies the complex system that is an animal shelter and develops methods for reducing animal suffering, preventing infectious diseases, decreasing length-of-stay, and decreasing euthanasia by increasing the live release rate of animals impounded at the shelters. But the system is complex and the issues are emotionally charged. Many people that work in shelters become overwhelmed with the extent of the problem, and they develop compassion fatigue. Veterinarians know little about the challenges faced by shelter workers, because they have little research base in this area of veterinary medicine. But everyone wants to help. I think a well-designed game is needed to help tackle the issues faced in animal shelters--bring teams together to explore the sheltering systems and infuse creative problem solving into the issue.
Would any of you be able to help me pursue this goal? I envision a game that could be played while veterinarians are studying the subject of Shelter Medicine--in small chunks, as a way to explore the parameters of the complex animal sheltering system. They could play out scenarios presented by emergency shelters erected during natural or man-made disasters, or during a forensic investigation of an animal hoarding situation, or a canine influenza outbreak, etc. As the players "level up" they could begin to work in teams to try to manage the many areas of the shelter--intake, adoption, sanitation, behavior and enrichment, etc. At the ultimate level, teams of players could work in "real time" to assist researchers at the University to actually consult with a real shelter and create solutions tailored to that shelter that would save lives and reduce euthanasia or visit their local shelters and infuse positive change in a socially responsible effort.
Whether you think this sounds impossible or probable, I would love to hear from you. I know nothing really about game design and don't know whether it would be economically feasible to develop such a game--but I think it is an idea worth exploring. Surely there are foundations or corporations out there willing to subsidize a game with the real potential to reduce euthanasia of healthy adoptable animals.
I look forward to hearing from this group about the plausibility of this idea. Thank you for your time.
Terry Spencer, DVM
Winston Wolff
Although you need to make it for e-learning, I'd recommend making a board/paper game first--they are fun and cheap to develop. If your board game is fun, you can turn it into a video game later. Another thing I'd think about is how your game will keep score. In your emergency scenarios, how will the player know they are doing better or worse? Is there only one right answer in each scenario or a bunch of decisions that combine to a better or worse outcome? The way you structure the scoring system is they way you guide the players to your desired outcome.
I recommend the book "Art of Game Design" by Jesse Schell for a very practical guide to games. And you need to search out and play games that can be copied. Try the board game Pandemic--it deals with the spread of disease and organizing efforts to contain and cure them.
-Winston
Winston Wolff
Stratolab - Games for Learning
tel: (917) 543 8852
web: www.stratolab.com
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