Serious Games For Internalizing How Government Works

Government in Action, developed by Muzzy Lane Software for McGraw-Hill Higher Education, is the winner of the Adaptive Force Training Award, this year’s special emphasis category of the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge, at I/ITSEC 2012 (please find also SeriousGames Showcase & Challenge Announces 2012 Winners).

Government in Action placing players in the role of a congressperson that must run for election and pass legislation lets you literally do all the things a member of congress does, from introducing bills and dealing with lobbyists in DC, to listening to local constituents and fundraising back home on your local district. 

In this sense, GinA helps players to understand how everything fits together as opposed to the traditional linear approach to Introduction to American Government, chapter by chapter.

Similarly to their prior product Practice Marketing (see also PRACTICE Marketing: Real World Multiplayer Serious Game), Muzzy Lane SW and McGraw-Hill Higher Education have come up with a most playable, engaging and compelling solution, this time fully embedding the fundamentals of policy development, public consultation and influence in game dynamics and in feedback to user in the form of ‘Political Capital’, the game’s cumulative score. Feedback built into the game, besides feeding into the ‘Political Capital’ score, also demonstrates how the decisions players make can be used to measure real world attitudes.

The game has the additional merit of delivering educational value to young audiences that have a fundamental expectation of interactivity, thus creating a unique experience for internalizing how government works.