Title: W505 10946 Analysis of Simulation Games
General Information
Background Information
Stop Disasters is a game that was designed by The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. It is a United Nations initiative to coordinate efforts to reduce disaster risks. They believe international governments and agencies will be better equipped to handle “natural hazards” through education.
The ISDR believes there is no such thing as a natural disaster, but only natural hazards, that can be prevented by being better prepared. The game is one resource to help inform people on the choices they can make to be better stewards of the land and lessen the risks on people and property.
You can access the game or the ISDR with these web addresses.
http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/en/playgame.html
http://www.unisdr.org/
Play Features
There are five natural disaster scenarios: a tsunami, a wildfire, a hurricane, a flood, and an earthquake a player can choose from. Once one is selected, the game presents the player with a specific mission to better equip a community for a common natural disaster in that geographical location. The object is to save lives by providing shelter and stronger defense systems for structures already in place.
There are three difficulty levels to choose from and each disaster gives different budget and time constraints to complete the task before the natural disaster strikes. During the game play, players can click on structures and can see things like the percentage of risk, what actions can be taken, etc. Fortunately, there are pop up mission objectives and hints for the player to read and interpret to better achieve the mission.
Once the timer runs up, the disaster strikes and the preparations are tested. The players can then assess how successful they were by reading a simulated newspaper article about the effects.
Representation
The game interface is map that is segmented into squares that represent different topographical features or structures. The player is looking down onto the community and can navigate it using the mouse to move in the desired direction.
Each square can be selected and different options are presented. One can choose to read information about the highlighted area, develop it by purchasing different structures like schools, hospitals, houses, or put up better defenses like planting trees, making dunes – all dependent upon what disaster is imminent and what the specific mission objectives outlined.
On the bottom of the screen there is a section to keep track of the budget and money spent. Next to it is a tally of the population and how many people are housed or sheltered. Finally, a score is reflected next to a difficulty meter.
Real World Representation
As stated on their website, “Children are the future architects, mayors, doctors, and parents of the world of tomorrow, if they know what to do to reduce the impact of disasters, they will create a safer world.” Through things like early response systems and understanding building materials better, this game gives specific examples on how to create that safer world. This simulation also provides cross-curricular opportunities for students to grow intellectually and in a practical manner. They must use mathematics to stay on budget and understand the tally of people they are trying to protect. They must use geography and science to understand the risks of the natural hazards. They must develop a global citizen perspective. Perhaps the most important result of the game is that it empowers students to problem solve and make important choices to save lives.
Analysis
Learning Style/Learning Objective
The Converging Learner is the most appropriate target group for this game. They use the information they have processed to find solutions. Making them thinkers and doers. These learners like to simulate and find answers for new ideas. (Businessballs).
I used the Indiana Academic Standard:
“Explain and give examples of how nature has impacted the physical environment and human populations in specific areas of Europe and the Americas.”
It is important for students to be able to understand the relationship between the physical environment and the human population. Moreover, it is especially important to understand how nature impacts these communities and prove that students are a piece in this puzzle. This game would be a perfect way to immerse students in this objective and come to a broader understanding of geography.
Game Components
Fictitious and unpredictable outcome
Obviously, with a game that is about destruction and death it is is important that it is fictitious so students can make decisions free of risk. This component provides countless directions students can take, making the outcome of the game unpredictable and resulting in an ongoing learning activity.
Goal-oriented
From the beginning the player is given a specific and measurable goal to provide safer accommodations for the community and build stronger defenses. This is a strong component of the game because without it, the student would be aimlessly building structures with no awareness of saving the lives of the region's inhabitants.
More than one player
This is a weak component for this game and has caused me to reassess if that is necessary in my definition of a game. The player is the sole decision maker and is not competing with others to accomplish the task.
Governed by rules
In the real world, governments have laws and restrictions on how they can support the community. This plays out in Stop Disasters as the player only has a certain amount of money and a fixed number of choices it can make to build or defend the land. Therefore this is a strong component in this game.
Voluntary
Although, you want a student to intrinsically want to help and participate, s a classroom activity, the game is not voluntary. So this is a weak component and also makes me rethink including it in my definition of a game.
Application
This game has a perfect application for a social studies teacher in the middle grades. The teacher could use it in front of the classroom to introduce and demonstrate the relationship between nature and humans. It can be used as a discovery activity for students to play and gain insight on the topic .It could also be used after several lessons for students to apply the knowledge already gained on the topic. I could see myself using this as a learning tool because it is very user-friendly and the instructions are clear and understandable. The weak components from my game definition are not critical for achieving the learning objectives. In conclusion, Stop Disasters is beneficial in the classroom because it puts students in charge of their learning by making them make decisions and see the effects of them.
