"Press ENTER to Start!"

"your BF or GF is beating you, you?"
-A) Leave the D-bag.
-B) Take the abuse, you know he loves you.
-C) Make a scene, act helpless, remember you can't change it...
-D) I want sex, i don't care, i want it...

If A
Problem solved
If B
Consult a psychologist
If C
Consult a psychologist
If D
Dont forget a condom, oh and then choose A when satisfied.

How has the response been so far Brian? I wish I had flash skills, as I fully support the cause.

@kelptocratic:
me 2, i want to support but i just can't program beyond text based games...

Although I have no flash skills, I support the cause and I hope with my whole being that there are no douchebag responses to this post...

@kelptocratic: Its hard to tell, my brother didn't require preregistration, sooooo. We do know there are at least a couple of real contenders.

Can I get the prize in Animal Crossing Bells(β$)?
If so, count me in!

True skill of a game designer isn't the AAA like Ultra Space Marines 3 or Zombie Hooker Beat-Off. True skill is from an individual who can make a game about C-SPAN and make it fun. I can't wait to see the winner for this!

Seriously now.
I'm kind of confused, can I enter from Brazil?
I don't think the site makes it clear enough for me.

@LittlestLamshi: would that it could always be that easy...

I'm interested in seeing the entries... it's a challenge, that's for sure.

How the hell do you do this without any violent content OR THEMES?

It's about violence awareness right?

@ZombiePuppy: Yes you can

I thought about trying my hand at this, but for the life of me I had no clue how to approach this subject matter.

Here's an idea for the next contest:

Create a game about dinosaurs.

Rules
1. Your game cannot include dinosaurs.
2. Your game cannot include references to dinosaurs.
3. Make sure it's about dinosaurs!

@Snaphaunce:

dont be a ick

dont make a game where you object is to beat or kill.

make a happy game yet send message that this is not ok, if i had the skills id know what to create.

@Dakobah: But they say:
a game about teen dating violence prevention without... a violent theme.

To prevent violence, the threat of violence needs to exist. Is the threat of violence a violent theme? I'd say yes.

The best violence prevention is situational awareness and avoidance of compromising situations. However, if worse comes to worst, rudimentary self defense abilities (to facilitate an escape) are a real and important asset. You cannot give a complete picture of the content without referring to some sort of violence.

Sorry, f-ed up my bold close tag. Sorry!

Well, I can do Visual Basic, but that's about it.

Damn, f-ed up my bold close tag. Sorry!

AND THEN I COULDN'T SEE MY FIRST APOLOGY AND DOUBLE POSTED. Okay, I'm done now. Really. (I hope)

@ninjafetus:
sure i dont think referenceing to violence is wrong in this contest, its probably neccesary to refrence violence of teen dating or raise some facts in your game to send the messege.

but themes or content to create a game based on being violent, and raising awareness of violence is two comepletely different things and that i think is what the rules mean.

but i will let crecente explain more if he needs to on this since its his contest and knows what is and isnt allowed

Somehow I missed mention of this the first time around. I think this is a really interesting and dynamic way to confront a situation like this. I'm definitely interested in seeing the outcome, hopefully there is at least one really impacting, creative solution.

In other news: the words "violence" and "game" in the same post have no doubt caused JT to perk up like a curious muskrat.

I do have to agree the requirements are somewhat counter productive.

They've essentially taken a very dark, violent, and unpleasant subject matter, and yet ... for the sake of being PC ... you must make a game which is none of these things.

Frankly, I'm going to assume that no less than half the games are either - only loosely related to the subject matter, wind up in with excessively metaphorical presentation more reminiscent of a drug trip than teen dating violence ...

:-\

It all seems rather unfortunate to me.

@Snaphaunce: LOL I'm still laughing >D

@sisedi:
I'm not. I think this is a great cause and I think it's pretty pathetic that people will actually comment on this story in a way that will make fun of the contest or the cause.
The game needn't and shouldn't be violent because violent reactions in sexual and dating violence is perpetuating: it doesn't stop the problem. Also, while good self defense can be important in things like confidence and feeling safe, it unfortunately is nearly irrelevant in actual situations - solutions like leaving and counseling are shown to be much more effective.
I'm anxiously anticipating the results of this contest, I'm glad to here there are several serious devs looking at taking on this challenge.

So, every entry will be a completely unrelated game accompanied by a long omnibus of y = x symbolic references that only exist when you force them to, huh?

My reading of the requirements would imply that the goal is to confront the problem dating violence without resorting to obvious depictions of, or engagement in, examples of said violence on the part of the player. A non-violent game, so to speak.

To wit: "How effectively does the game educate about Teen Dating Violence without using Violence in the game itself?" (From site).

@jordo37: You're missing the point entirely.

I doubt anyone wants to create some sort of violent game.

But the inability to portray or allude to the violent themes inherent to the subject mater strongly hinders the game maker's ability to properly portray the unpleasant and yet very real gravity of the situation.

@brent_w: I think one of the main issues is that this isn't a comfortable topic to discuss in general. Many victims are probably too embarrassed or scared to seek help.

Censoring the use of violence, it seems, further stigmatizes the topic and re-enforces the taboo. If we aren't even comfortable enough to address the issue head-on within a virtual environment how can we possibily hope to deal with it in real life?

LOL @ Snaphaunce!

Well, the game is supposed about violence prevention--and I assume that means it's largely about preventing date rape--so I think there are a number of ways to approach the subject without having to depict actual violence or make violence the central focus.

It could focus on the precautions that a smart teenager takes over the course of a date to ensure her safety. It could present a variety of dating scenarios and identify which ones are likely to be safe and which are potentially dangerous.

It could also take the position of a typical teenage boy and show what choices demonstrate respect, courtesy and thoughtfulness--and which are likely to result in a definite second date.

I should look around and see if I have any of my old flash/shockwave/director programs...

@dd-toronto: Yeah, and thats about as deep as an after school special.

Nobody takes anything away from that cheesy feelgood 'lets learn to make the right decisions!' crap.

Do you actually think 'DARE' ever kept any kids off drugs?

The drivers ed folks have it right ... have you ever seen the railroad crossing video ... ?

The one I'm referring to doesn't skirt the issue and bathe the kids in pretentious preaching ... It gets right to the point and shows the kids the real reason you don't try to beat the train ... because you don't want to be a fleshy red streak down the train tracks amidst a pile of twisted metal.

Isn't the ultimate lesson here, gameplaywise, to be abstinent? What purpose could you possibly convey in a game that would drive someone to seek out relationships when domestic violence is a possible outcome (or, considering how games usually go, an inevitable outcome).

It would have to be a game which is, essentially, not meant to be played. Something like PuyoPuyo or maybe a cutesy kind of animal crossing thing, and the game basically is designed around some simple reward system. You complete levels/simple puzzles/tasks and get rewards in the typical vein, but then, at random points, this obnoxious in-game entity insults and degrades your character, and takes away your stuff. This entity would also have to be the agent that typically rewards you. Your job, then, is to play this annoying game until you get completely fed up and quit. At which point the game says 'congratulations! You decided to end an obnoxious experience which was wasting your time and making you feel bad, now see if you can apply this to anything else in your life...'

A few comments:

(1) First, thank you! I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read these comments regarding the contest. Teen Dating Violence has historically not been discussed much and I'm genuinely pleased to see the gaming community not only embrace this cause but also have such an intelligent discourse - and this applies regardless of whether I agree with your POV or not!

(2) When I initially started tossing around the idea of this contest one of the first thoughts I had - and this was echoed by several others - was that I did not want to see entries that were gratuitously violent.

So... no "vigilante" games where the purpose is to round up as many abusers as possible w/ bonus points for creative torture techniques. No playing as the abusee and turning the tables on your abuser w/ bonus points for CTT. And absolutely no playing as an abuser à la the guro genre.

(3) Does this make the contest more difficult? Certainly! But I have faith in the creative-types out there and believe that many will see this as a true challenge - worthy not only for the theme represented but also proof-positive that video games are capable of playing other roles than as entertainer.

Thanks again,

Drew Crecente
Director, Jennifer Ann's Group
[www.JenniferAnn.org]

Drew, kudos to you for your efforts on this, it's great to see the creative community involved in something that can have a positive impact. Good luck!

@deathbunny: Thats actually a very interesting Idea.

It breaks the "games must be fun" rule, but still, its very interesting.

@Drew Crecente: my heart goes out to you brother. the work that you do can only be described as "honorable". i hope that your foundation can keep spreading the word. i know i definitely will. I cannot imagine how proud Jennifer must be looking down at you. God bless you and your family.

sorry to get so heart-felt on here, i just couldn't help myself.

Wow, I didn't get the title so I passed right by it untill I looked at what my friends are doing then I actually took the time to read it thru. In all seriousness this is a real problem as I have two younger sisters to which I had to but da azz woopin on an ex-boyfriend that tried hittin my lil sis. So I hope someone can come up with a really good game on a very real issue. I'm not a good example because my fix is to beat the hell out of any teen boy or man that thinks about hittin a teen girl or woman. Sorry too violant. Good luck to everyone participating in the contest.

Friends and I have talked long and hard about how to make a game about such a topic. I've made games that were educational on a number of levels, but it's hard for me to conceive of how to make an edutainment title out of such a topic. If you make the game comical, you run the risk of trivializing the risks in reality and it downplays the seriousness of the danger in their eyes. If you make the game too serious and more like a test or quiz, it's no longer a "game" as fun is no longer the focus.

I'm a budding Flash developer who has been looking for a good project to work on, but I'm at a loss as to what would be a good game idea that would work towards the purpose of the contest, and be realistically achievable.