Playing for Keeps

Gaming for Change

The technical limitations notwithstanding, Tillett doesn't think that the parameters of the project constrained her team in any way. "My folks became just as passionate about the subject as the non-profit guys. I couldn't tell who was on whose team some days." The long development time for the game also meant both sides had a chance to fine tune the project. "The typical cycle for game design is 18 months," says Tillett. A Force More Powerful was in development almost three years, from conception to release. "We did a prototype, and then the ICNC would use it for further fundraising." The non-profit focus group tested the game to make sure that they were hitting all the important points.

Is it working? Merriman says he can't be sure. "We haven't done the empirical research to see if people are getting the messages we are trying to teach." The game has only been out for a year, and the "unofficial" distribution channels make it difficult to know how widely the game is being spread. "Promotional copies were sent out to NGOs, some of the press and conferences, and these activist groups will get information any way they can. A Force More Powerful is probably being burned and distributed further than we know." The game is currently used in university courses on non-violence, and ICNC is confident that its exposure will only increase as the word-of-mouth in the activist community grows.

There are already plans for an updated version. A Force More Powerful isolates crises to a national political context, missing a lot of the global and economic factors that can be critical to a movement's success or failure. ICNC wants to include this international dimension in future editions of the game to give players that "world is watching" feeling that gave the Orange Revolution and the fight against apartheid such energy. The world will certainly be watching them.

Troy S. Goodfellow is a freelance writer based in Maryland. He reviews strategy and wargames for a number of outlets and maintains a blog at www.flashofsteel.com.