Serious hunger games: Increasing awareness about food security in Canada through digital games

Abstract

Digital games are becoming increasingly common knowledge transfer media. So-called "serious games" or "games for good" have attracted academic, industry, and mainstream attention through the proliferation of conferences, journals, blogs, and online communities. They offer what few other educational resources can in a single medium: interactive, user-led learning experiences based on discovery and experimentation, explorations of complex systems through skill development and decision making, and a personal connection with the content through role-playing (Bogost, 2007; Dahya, 2009; Gee, 2003; Kee & Bachynski 2009). As digital games move out of the home and into public education, sharing experienced-based insights on how to navigate this new terrain is important and necessary to efficiently create media that is both informative and engaging. This field report reflects on the process of developing the educational game Food Quest, from conception to completion, including the challenges, surprises and lessons learned. After detailing the gameplay of Food Quest, we provide a chronological report on the design and development process, including origins and exploratory phases of the project, concerns around digital game-based learning, and the unanticipated obstacles that contributed to a lengthy development process. The report also provides preliminary evaluations and recommendations for others interested in create a similar digital resource to spread awareness about food security.