As Gustav was threatening to bring a second round of hurricane disaster to New Orleans, Global Kids released a new, Web-based serious game: Hurricane Katrina – Tempest in Crescent City.
The game was developed during the 2007-2008 in collaboration with Global Kids Youth Leaders at Canarsie High School in Brooklyn and is intended to recognize “local heroes that emerged during the [Hurricane Katrina] disaster while educating its players about the essentials of disaster readiness.”
I haven’t played it yet, but here’s an overview from the game’s instructions:
In Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City, you play as Vivica Waters. You must travel across New Orleans in search of your mother, helping people, rescuing trapped and injured survivors, and gathering information from local citizens along the way.
Some citizens have items that you can distribute to other citizens who are in need. In later levels, you will need to collect items from citizens in order to help injured survivors who are trapped in their homes. It is not required rescue and help citizens, however doing so will earn you hero points. For every 12 hero points you collect, you get an extra life.
Some citizens have information about the whereabouts of your mother, and the current situation in New Orleans. In each level, you must talk with at leas least 2 of these citizens to provide enough information to the reporter at the end of the level. You must complete each level before the sun sets.
The game is housed in a Ning site which provide opportunities for gamers to communicate and learn from each other and also provides a number of resources for educators.
Naturally, this is one more great addition to my earlier serious games list 26 Learning Games to Change the World (which included Global Kids Ayiti: The Cost of Life) and the subsequent 7 More Learning Games for Change.
Jeff Cobb
Mission to Learn
Related posts:
- British Red Cross Launches Alternate Reality Game
- Heifer to Launch Serious Game
- 5 Games Against Poverty and Hunger
- 5 Learning Games for Climate Change – Blog Action Day
- 12 More Learning Games for Change – and a Bonus
posted on September 3, 2008
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