Absence of Values in the Gaming Industry

We have hundreds of thousands of games and apps at our fingertips that give us a lot of fun, provide rest after long working hours, master our memory and concentration, or positively influence our relations with friends.

Long experience in the gaming industry taught me all those mechanisms that games should use to make players engaged. But lately, I was thinking, what do they actually do for us? Is there anything they do for the world?

Our kids, our neighbors, our friends, and the guy sitting next to you on the train, they are all playing these games. How do we want them to be affected? How would we want them to change for the better?

Light in the Tunnel

A friend of mine, a few days ago, rescued a cat from a dumpster, which was only five weeks old. Someone had thrown this little kitty away like trash. After love, soap, and medications, she became a happy little ball of fluff that gives a lot of these unconditional feelings back.

Though I am sure you have all heard your fair share of stories like these, the epidemic of animal cruelty continues. So here is my thought: what if we take this extremely lucrative niche of games technology and use it for more than entertainment?

These games, no matter how simple or complex are, pull us in. We willingly dive into a new reality and whether or not we can see it, these new realities have the power to influence us on a profound level. I truly believe that if we harnessed this power, we could actually change our reality.

We have this amazing new realm of social media, so why not use it to help charities and make social movements? They can connect us to the world and these difficult issues, instead of giving us an escape from them.

It doesn’t have to be scary. I am not suggesting soap-box apps that guilt you into donating money to clear your conscience while you play Sims. I am promoting the idea of games that give you a new perspective on the on-going problems.

Motion Stride Takes the Challenge

Motion Stride start-up (www.motionstride.com) takes the courage to venture into this possibility. Their first product embraces the topic of dogs’ adoption and abuse, where they promise that through the positive interactions with dogs in need, the game encourages them to dig more information and actually make good for those defenseless creatures. It is worth a try, so go and sign up on their website to make the first step into a brand new category of mobile games.

If every problem in the world had a game created to show us a new perspective, maybe there would be a lot more empathy, especially in the mobile generation. There are more than 83 million millennials living in the United States and Canada, who are glued to their mobile devices.

Maybe we could actually change the way they use it a little to change the world, instead of only wishing we could. I am not saying that smartphone games will solve all our problems. But they can inspire compassion and with compassion comes action. Action creates change!