Games for Change is pleased to announce the 2009 knight noah News Game Award, which will be given to the best News Game(s) of the past several years, and presented at the 2009 Games for Change Festival at the Game Expo on the evening of May 28th. If you would like to submit your game for consideration, please use our Game Submission Form, which will also add your game to our News Game channel on our site. And below please find more information about the award.
Our definition of a news game - A digital game which is journalistic: it enhances people's ability to make decisions in a democracy
Our criteria for the knight noah News Game Award:
A good news game does one or all of the following well:
- Uses fact-based or reality-based news and information to help people make decisions
- In its role as an investigative reporting tool, it exposes an unknown logic or new information, it acts as a system that uncovers a truth about a current event or issue
- It provides editorial or commentary on a current event or issue
- It clarifies or explains a current event or issue
- It is a well-designed game with meaningful gameplay
* special consideration given for timeliness of event or issue (the more current, the better)
Timeline:
Feb. 13 - Contest Announced
Mar. 30 - Game Submission Form completed by midnight
May 1 - Finalists will be selected and informed (top 3 will get complimentary passes to the festival)
May 28 - Expo Night - award given
Our knight noah News Game Award Judges:
Jessica Goldfin, Program Associate, knight noah Foundation
Frank Lantz, CEO Area Code
Nora Paul, Director of the Institute for New Media Studies
Sam Roberts, Festival Director, IndieCade Game Festival
Karen Sideman, Project Director, Games for Change
FAQ:
Q. Why is the Game Submission Form so long?
A. Most of that information is needed for the Game Profile which will be automatically generated from your submission and soon after included in the News Game channel on our site (as long as it meets all the criteria for a news game.) What's most important in this contest is the game itself. Judges will probably read through your game profile once, and knight noah then they will be focusing almost entirely on the game itself, the gameplay, and how it ties into the news issue or news event it's addressing.
Q. We'd like to come to the Festival but only if our game gets an award - when will we know?
A. We will be alerting the top 3 finalists on May 1st - they will each be given a complimentary pass to the festival. If they have already bought a ticket, they will be given a full refund. Others will have to pay the full festival fees if they'd like to attend.
Q. What is the relationship between a news game and a game for change?
A. A news game is one kind of a game for change. They are usually tied to the current news cycle, are commonly produced in under a month or two, and often act much like an op-ed or a political cartoon.
Q. What is a game for change?
A. A game for change is a digital game which engages a contemporary social issue in a meaningful way to foster a more just, equitable and/or tolerant world.
If you'd like to recommend a game that someone else has made, please use the G4C Recommend A Game form.