One theme that came up quite a bit during the Game Developer’s Conference, and that also came up today in conversations with various friends and colleagues, is the idea of making games that are good for people.
There is an entire field of games for health (an initiative that has been strongly supported by Michelle Obama to fight childhood obesity), and quite a few games designed to raise social or political awareness around various issues. At our Games for Learning Institute we’ve been working for years on figuring out how to make games that help kids learn better.
But can a game go further than this? Can we use them to become better people? Suppose all of those self-help books that currently line our nation’s book store shelves were gradually replaced by interactive game software that can truly customize for each individual user, and that person’s particular needs.
Could we end up with a powerful force for good? Can a game help you to become a kinder or more thoughtful person? To be more considerate in your relationships? To guide you toward raising your consciousness in a way that frees you to better appreciate the world around you, and to get the most out of each day of your life?
Kind of the opposite of a first-person shooter?
A first-person healer?