A key goal of the Center for Games and Impact is to build capacity for others to benefit from the power of games for impact, to integrate lessons learned, and to further advance the field with lessons of their own.
We achieve these goals through multiple channels, including offering innovative courses, game-infused experiences, internship experiences, publishing games and research articles, talks and seminars, impact guides, and a studio partnership to grow sustainable business models for scaling impact.
Consistent with our mission statement, collectively these various efforts are intended to leverage research and development activities so that we can cultivate impact in the key impact areas:
- Impact Guides – Impact Guides are a way to extend the experience of a game beyond what happens on the screen, and to reflect on key themes within the game and the connections to the larger world. These guides prompt individuals to play with purpose: thinking critically about their play with a specific focus on its impact on their life.
- Community Partnerships – We work with school districts, after-school centers, museums, to find ways of integrating games and game-infused experiences to address local needs. We provide opportunities to participate in formal workshops, experience guided play activities, and interact with leading experts in the field. Sessions include professional development for various sectors, workshops in schools, invited speakers, and guided play sessions at the Center.
- Academic Courses – We are offering a Games and Impact Certificate for undergraduate and graduate students seeking to research and design games for impact. Throughout the program, students work alongside experts on behalf of clients, learning how to design, research and scale impact for real-world outcomes.
- Research Publications – A key component of the work is to publish lessons learned within scholarly journals, popular magazines, policy reports, and through innovative media such as working examples. We also reach national and international audiences through invited talks, academic symposia and conference presentations.
Setting up an academic program was a first key effort in cultivating impact. We are currently growing how credits are offered, and adopting a much more impact focus (rather than knowledge dissemination) method of earning credits. Specifically, we are exploring the potential of a … Cultivating impact at a broad scale requires that this work takes on a life beyond the Center itself. To support a truly transformative impact ecology, we are always looking for new partners in the mission. If you are interested in being further involved, please contact us. Consistent with the assumption that real impact requires extending the lessons into interest-driven real-world lifeworlds, we are building out a social-community system that leverages smart tools and gamification layers to track, support, and inspire meaningful integration of core ideas into everyday practices.