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More than three hundred million people play Facebook games
each month—Farmville 2, Words With Friends and Candy Crush Saga are some of the
most popular games on the social networking site. Sheryl WuDunn, author of
“Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” has
turned her Pulitzer Prize-winning book into a Facebook game of the same name.
In an effort to take advantage of a global audience, turning
the book into a Facebook game raises awareness and funds for girls and women
across the world.
“It is probably the most ambitious social impact game ever,”
the author said in an interview
on The Today Show, “sort of the Farmville for social change.”
The game follows a woman living in a fictional village in
India, who goes on various quests with a lot of obstacle, and it is up to the
player to help her navigate those quests. There are a number of partners and
causes along the way that can be supported with monetary donations, but the
most important aspect of the game is its ability to raise awareness of the
issues women and girls face in the developing world. “Half the Sky Movement- The Game” debuted on
Facebook on March 4th, and already has more than five thousand
followers.
Here at the EMC, games like BREAKAWAY are similarly designed to
raise awareness on modern social issues, but the idea of designing and
marketing them specifically for Facebook users is a relatively innovative
idea—why not try and take advantage of the amount of people utilizing Facebook
in a given day to make a difference?
Do you think games for change like “Half the Sky” will be
successful on social media networks?
Written by Jillian Casey '15
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