Irish charity Trócaire has launched a new strategy game which teaches young people in Ireland about the impacts of climate change overseas.
‘Project Honduras’, which recently won the International Educational Game Competition 2018, is the first online Development Education game of its kind in Ireland. It is a strategy game where the primary goal is to show how important it is for communities to work together to combat climate change.
Aimed at 10-14-year-olds, the game is based on the real-life experiences of two young Honduran climate activists, Javier and Andrea, who featured in Trócaire’s 2017 Lent campaign on climate action.
Primary-school students from Gaelscoil Bharra in Cabra recently tested the game and here is what they said:
Brandán Ó Casín,11, enjoyed playing the game and learning about climate change. When compared to other games that children play, he said Project Honduras is "better than FIFA" and with other games "sometimes there's too much gore and violence and it is actually boring".
Harvey Mac Riocard,11, said:
"It's better to play a game than to learn in a book".
Mia Ní Raghallaigh, 12, said that she got into the game so much that she "wanted to keep playing until you finish, I wanted to get it right".
Their principal, Seán Ó'Donaile, said that "this new game from Trócaire is an excellent way of teaching students about issues in the developing world in a fun context. Kids are concerned about issues like climate change in particular, and this game enhances their knowledge. Students are very interested in the lives of people in other countries. It’s important they learn about other cultures in a spirit of solidarity".
He added that "a game is a fun relaxed setting and is a specific activity that is more beneficial than books, they’ll remember it more because it’s a game".
‘Project Honduras’ won the International Educational Game Competition 2018 for the best game in development, beating stiff competition from games designers from China, America, Brazil, France, Germany and the UK, at the Educational Conference on Games-based Learning in France.
The game was designed by digital agency eightytwenty and Trócaire in consultation with Trócaire’s Honduras office. Trócaire are now exploring the possibility of a translation into Spanish to use in local communities in Honduras to support emergency preparedness.
Children can play the game online on at www.trocaire.org/education/project-honduras
Trócaire also launched its ‘Game Changers’ competition at DCU to encourage young people to use games as a way to explore global issues.
Trócaire ‘Game Changers’ is a new competition for young people who want to change the world and believe that games are a way to do this.
Games submitted must explore a Development Education theme and fall under one of the following game formats: Board Game, Card Game or Video Game.
Entries must be submitted by April 12, 2019 in Senior Primary, Post Primary or Youth Group categories.
Games can be submitted to the Game Changers competition here:
