The Learning Games Network (LGN),
established in 2007 as a non-profit spin-off of MIT’s Education Arcade and the University of Madison-Wisconsin’s Games + Learning + Society Center, released their ethical and critical thinking "Serious
Game" Quandary in September 2012.
Quandary is a
free, online game for players aged 8-14 that presents engaging situations purposefully
designed to build competency in ethical thinking.
Quandary was
developed by a team of experts across the fields of child development, social
and emotional learning, moral development and game design. Scholars
from Harvard and Tufts University devised a prototype that
was tested for viability. Designers at the MIT Education Arcade and the
Learning Games Network refined the game, which was produced by FableVision, an award-winning digital
production and learning company.
Quandary is a unique gaming experience that
puts players in charge of a colony on the planet Braxos, where human settlers are
trying to create a thriving civilization. Players will have to consider urgent moral and
ethical dilemmas that are integral to the livelihood of their colony. Each
decision will have serious consequences for the settlers of Braxos.
In
their interactions with other settlers in the colony, players must consider
facts, opinions and solutions, just like in real life.
Though the game’s setting is a futuristic
colony, the genuinely tough situations that players encounter are translatable
to the ones they are likely to face day-to-day. The skills players develop
while playing Quandary – such as critical thinking,
perspective-taking and decision-making – will help them recognize ethical
issues and deal with ethical situations in their own lives.
There are three episodes (scenarios) in Quandary.
Each takes about 10-30 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of the
player.
Quandary's registration
system allows players to save their progress after each episode and return by
logging-in at a different time. It’s not necessary to register to play the
game, but the progress will not be saved.
Quandary received the
Most Meaningful Game Award at the International Academic Conference on
Meaningful Play 2012 at Michigan State University.