Update

New App from Games for Change Aims to Help National Parks

Games for Change is getting back in the game producing business, at least today.

The organization known for its annual conference focused on connecting games and gaming to social good movements announced Tuesday it was releasing a free app in for iOS that aimed to boost the number of people willing to help in the national parks.

“It’s part of our effort to directly connect with the users and experience a game that will hopefully have an end result of an increased number of interested volunteers,” Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change, told us.

The organization worked with well-known developer Schell Games, creator of several titles for PBS and Amplify, to develop “Save the Park.” The runner-style game features four characters tasked with exploring virtual parks while fulfilling critical jobs within the parks, including, protecting animal habitats, planting trees, maintaining trails, collecting research specimens, and helping park visitors, all while trying to avoid obstacles in the player’s way.

The game includes explicit calls to action to encourage players to volunteer at parks in the real world.

Players can choose from four characters that all work in the park to help run things.

Players can choose from four characters that all work in the park to help run things.

The game was produced with the help of the American Express Foundation, which has undertaken a multi-year effort to help the National Park System. Meredith Hahn, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at American Express said, “To inspire and mobilize the next generation of volunteers we need a new set of tools, and we believe ‘Save the Park’ is a ‘virtual’ first step to converting game players into real-world volunteers.”

It is help the National Park Service said it is desperate to have, with National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis saying, “With more than 400 parks across the country that protect and preserve America’s landscapes, culture and history, we can’t do it alone, and volunteers serve important roles in many of our national parks.”

For Games for Change, the latest game comes a few years after it undertook a major game effort around the Half the Sky movement where they executive produced a series of games aimed at combating oppression and increasing opportunities for women. That effort resulted in a series of social games and other tools and sparked a post-launch report and a series of “lessons learned” blogs.

Pollack said “Save the Park” could trigger the same kind of reporting and efforts.

“I think we are interested in experimenting, hopefully setting the bar to demonstrate what’s possible in with a game,” she said, “whether it’s building a coalition of partners within the public and private space, to raise awareness of the game itself or the potential of games… We are interested in seeing how we can help create those models.”

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Lee Banville Lee Banville is editor of Gamesandlearning.org. He is also an Professor of Journalism at The University of Montana. For 13 years he ran the online and digital operations of the PBS NewsHour, overseeing coverage of domestic and international stories.