Game It Forward Summit

[Brandon Bozzi]

Hello Gameful Peeps!

I'm looking for feedback/advice on my latest project.

I'm hosting a summit that's bringing together volunteers from the nonprofit and game communities to collaborate for a day toward designing a game that will address an issue one of the nonprofits facing. Stage two will be getting funding, building a small team, and turning the design into a real game.

It's going well so far. I have participants from PATH and Seattle Children's on the nonprof side, and from across the game industry on the design side. I've go the venue, food, and other basic logistics taken care of. And I'm currently working on the structure for the day.

Any experience that you want to share on the following topics would be appreciated:

- Process for designing games with a group of people in a short period of time.

- Things to think about when working with nonprofits (my background is for profit).

- Getting funding for nonprofit games (crowdsourcing, grants, investors, etc.) 

 Thanks for your help!

~Brandon

 

[Virginia Zaunbrecher]

Hey Brandon, I lead a working group of people interested in using games in international development.  I'd be interested to know a bit more about what you're planning.  Would the game be for domestic playing, or do you anticipate rolling it out in the developing world?

[Stacy Hasselbacher]

I come at this from the nonprofit side. I'd just say to keep in mind that nonprofits are mission-driven, and that there IS a way to create a game that is both truly gameful and meets the organizational mission. So if it seems there are tough spots when the gamers think the game is too educational/mission-y, or the nonprofit folks think the game is too fun or fluffy, it is absolutely worth it to work through those tough conversations to find something that will work for everyone. Setting clear objectives at the start always helps.