SERIOUS GAME HELPS CITIZENS PREPARE FOR DISASTERS
NEWS
In case of a disaster, first responders will not be able to help everybody. Citizens will, therefore, have to improve their ability to help themselves, to be able to take care of themselves and of those around them. In a recent project, Hester Stubbé studied the way in which Serious Gaming can help citizens to increase their preparedness for disasters. A pilot game showed such good results that a full version is now under development.
Table-top game
Hester Stubbé
In this project a table-top version of the game is developed. In this way, the game-dynamics and the incorporation of the learning goals can be tested easily with the group aimed at. It takes a relatively short period of time to develop a first playable version of the game. Apart from that, it is easy to improve it according to the feedback.given.
Elements of the game
The game consists of a board, pawns, a dice and cards with questions / statements / information divided into several categories. Furthermore, as in Trivial Pursuit, wedges of different colours can be collected.
The board depicts six different surroundings (see the table on the left, above). These six surroundings match the possible surroundings in The Netherlands. For every surrounding the matching risks are incorporated in the game: e.g. flooding for the coastal area or a petrol station close to your own house. All six categories, mentioned in the table on the right above, are used in the cards, for every surrounding. The categories are based on the elements that are important for the preparation for disasters by citizens. The questions, statements and information in the game stimulate participants to enhance the awareness of their own perceptions (see the table on the right, above) and share this with the others participants. By discussing, the participants learn from eachother and thereby increase their own preparedness.
Gameplay
The player uses the pawn to walk the board (see below, right), following the dice. He can decide for himself which surrounding he wants to explore. Within a surrounding the player can choose one of the categories, which are presented in different colours. Players are free to go to whichever colour they want, but are stimulated to explore all categories by the playing piece in which wedges of the different colours can be collected. During the game the players discuss the different questions / statements. This helps them to deepen their knowledge and process the information.
Example card 'in and around your home' |
Game board (Dutch) |
Pilot
At the end of May 2010 a pilot was carried out with third-year Image and Reputation students of the Hogeschool Zeeland. One third of the game had been finished at the time (two of the intended six surroundings).
The students played the game in two groups of about 10 players. From the beginning onwards they were actively involved in the game. After a short introduction, they understood what they had to do and played the game without any further interference. There was much discussion and the students added to the answers of others when they thought the answers were not complete. Several times an answer was thought to be insufficient and students did not allow the player to add a coloured wedge to their collection.
A the end of the game, the students mentioned that the game had made them think more about possible incidents in their own life and that they would prepare themselves better for this ( have more water in the house, buy smoke detectors, get extra food for pets).
The students gave very useful feedback on the cards: some questions can be clearer and it does not really work to give answers to the questions (the students just read the answers instead of thinking about it themselves). It might be better to include tips instead of answers. A remarkable observation was that the students thought the game was that good, esp. the discussion part, that it should not be developed as a digital game. When we explained that a digital game would create the possibility to walk around in your own surroundings, they could see that this would add something extra to the game. We also asked them about possible target groups for the game. The opinions about this were very diverse: some thought the game should be played by primary school children; others thought it would be very suitable for the elderly.
Future
The game will be improved and finished (six surroundings), using the comments and feedback from the pilot. In the fall of 2010 it will be played by a group of people that form a representative reflection of the Dutch population. They will also fill out a qualitative questionnaire to determine if people can learn to improve their preparedness for disasters by playing the game.
For more information please contact Hester Stubbé at hester.stubbe@tno.nl