Can Online Games Make Economics and Politics Fun?

Posted by KATHY GILL, Technology Policy Analyst in Science & Technology.
Jul 20th, 2011 | 7 responses

Sweatshop Game Screen Capture From Indie Games Ichiban

If you’re Britain’s Channel 4 Education, then you think the answer to that question is more than a resounding “yes”.

That’s because Channel 4 (owned by Espresso Education, not BBC4) recently launched a free online game designed to shine more than a wee of light on global fashion culture. Game designers at Littleloud consulted the UK-based charity, Labour Behind The Label, for the facts and data underpinning the game. Players manage an offshore clothing manufacturer that feeds a ravenous and capricious fashion machine.

[T]his comedic game presents a series of moral dilemmas to the player, who must juggle the needs of clients with the welfare of workers. Should you hire a fire officer to prevent the risk of workers dying horribly in an industrial blaze or pack them in to get the job done? Should you train workers to make them more efficient and satisfied or fire them when they lose a limb in an industrial accident? How do you motivate workers: with generous treats and toilet breaks or with an iron fist, long hours and verbal abuse? Maybe you just want to buy a bunch of robots to do the job instead, forcing your human workforce into deeper poverty. [...]

With expert advice from UK-based charity, Labour Behind The Label, there’s a serious message behind the engaging game play and relentless gags. By the end of the game the player will have a deeper understanding of where their cheap clothes came from, and hopefully won’t have lost too many workers’ limbs getting there.

I’ve found two reviews, one at The Daily Kos and one at Indie Games Ichiban. The Kos review focuses more on the advocacy aspect of the game than Indie Games, which spends more time on mechanics. However, both pronounce the game to be “fun.” The Kos review notes the moral conflict:

Gets even more uncomfortable as it gets into the higher levels and you’re treating “worker loses a limb” as merely some negative points, a bump on the factory-management road to be contingency-managed [...] the fact that it’s actually quite possible to “win” is what makes it a bit disturbing…

Sweatshop is by no means the first game to tackle either politics or economics. It is part of a small but growing group of “video games” (we need a new name for this genre) that are slowly making their way into the classroom. For example, MIT developed Palmagotchi, which uses virtual pets (made popular by the Tamagotchi toy) to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution using Galapagos Island finches.

Gamification. I hate the word, but I’d rather kids play Sweatshop than Grand Theft Auto (also out of the UK, by the way).

Oh, how long do you think it will take for someone to create a game based on the News Corp phone hacking mess? And what about Wall-Mart, with its devastating impact on Main Street America; how might that bit of reality economics be integrated into a game like Sweatshop? The Wall Street implosion?

7 Responses to “Can Online Games Make Economics and Politics Fun?”

1. Fashion Incubator » Blog Archive » The silly sweatshop game says:

   July 20, 2011 at 7:45 pm

   [...] a new game making the rounds, it’s called Sweatshop (hat tip). I thought to mention it before a bunch of people start sending me the link and asking me what I [...]
2. DLS says:

   July 21, 2011 at 12:23 am

   Does this imply that this and other subjects need to be made fun and games offered to get contemporary youth (of all ages) to be willing to try to learn? Subjects like civics, various sciences, even mathematics as well as factual knowledge of history and of current events, for example? Stuff that voters should be competent in, even?
3. KATHY GILL, Technology Policy Analyst says:

   July 21, 2011 at 1:38 am

   Hi, DLS – subjects need to be made relevant and taught in a manner other than dry facts and lecture. If interactive learning is a way to get people of all ages to know more about economics and civics, I support it.
4. Can Online Games Make Economics and Politics Fun? – The Moderate Voice | Blue Mars Game says:

   July 21, 2011 at 9:18 am

   [...] Can Online Games Make Economics and Politics Fun?The Moderate VoiceThat's because Channel 4 Learning (owned by Espresso Education, not BBC4) recently launched a free online game designed to shine more than a wee of light on global fashion culture. Game designers at Littleloud consulted the UK-based charity, …and more » [...]
5. farazosman says:

   July 21, 2011 at 12:14 pm

   Hello,

   Thank you for your kind words. Few bits:

   This is a project from Channel 4 Education, which is part of Channel 4 (and not espresso).

   Channel 4 Learning is a separate commercial body that hosts many old Channel 4 programmes – these new projects are part of C4 Education though.

   If you want any more details, please look me up!

   Thanks,

   f
6. KATHY GILL, Technology Policy Analyst says:

   July 22, 2011 at 2:49 am

   Thanks, farazosman (I’m not sure why you didn’t use your real name!) — I hope you’ve also left comments on the two reviews (older than this one and linked here) that said that Sweatshop is a BBC4 production…

   I missed the fact that the #1 link for a Google search for Channel 4 Education is, instead, Channel 4 Learning. Apologies!
7. DLS says:

   July 23, 2011 at 2:44 pm

   Kathy, I understand what you’re saying and believe me, when I was in school (all the way back to elementary school) I loved it when my teachers could bring a subject to life (and one taught me to do that for myself in first grade: “Make a picture in your mind about …”) but there’s no substitute for trying to learn and when students fail, it’s not right to presume there’s something wrong with the teacher or the related material.

   Certainly I like more pleasant and interesting ways to learn things.