Reuters reports that edutainment has more going for it these days than Reader Rabbit and Beavis, er, Mavis Beacon.

The idea appears to be gaining popularity. "Darfur is Dying," which allows players to avoid being killed in violence-plagued Sudan, was downloaded more than 750,000 times in the past two months. "Food Force," created by the World Food Program at the United Nations, has been downloaded off the Internet more than 2 million times.

I went to the Darfur is Dying website and was unable to download it, nor have I heard of it, or Food Force (what a hideous name) or any of the other listed games, so I wonder where these numbers are coming from.

I also wonder if a better tack would be to make an actual full-scale game, a good one at that, and donate part of the proceeds to the appropriate charity? I can see this working even for a small mod for an already popular title, such as Battlefield, for which the content is keyed to the crisis it represents.

More musing after the jump.

Imagine a survival horror game that takes place in Darfur, developed with the same art and quality as given to Resident Evil, Silent Hill or any realistic combat shooter. You play as a Good Guy who must assist refugees of various kinds to escape militia-occupied villages, cities and wilderness regions. Or you are one of these refugees, as in Dying in Darfur, perhaps with a child in tow, and the stakes are that much higher.

Being hunted by evil men through a benighted village, surrounded by your dead countrymen, would be every bit as terrifying as fleeing Shinto ghosts, armed only with a camera. Moreso, if executed correctly. Good games target emotional response, and they do it successfully. Being immersed in the situation in such a way would be the educational first step, and knowing that the purchase price (or part of it) went to the good cause in question would be the second. Actually doing something else to help would be a logical third.

Thanks for the tip, Dr. Menlo. Eliza Gauger

Game Designers Try to Help Save the World [CNET]

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