The
game I chose to play was called third world farmer. The game itself is actually
pretty fun and is set up as an arcade game. It is very easy to play, so picking
it up is easy for everyone to understand. The premise of the game is all about
trying to be a farmer in a third world country and the struggles that come with
being in that situation.
You
start off with fifty dollars and four family members that are able to work in
the field to help produce crops for your family. The two adults can do more of
the work load, while the two children can only do a little in comparison.
The
game deals with many issues that arise in farming lands in third world
countries. First being that money is very scarce. Also when money does come
around, people like to take it away from you, like corrupt government
officials. The climate is probably the biggest factor that is seen in the game.
The crops that are planted, either corn, wheat, cotton, or peanuts, can all be
destroyed easily by the weather. Some of those factors are drought, unfertile
soil, and excessive heat. On your farm you can also raise animals like
chickens, pigs, cattle, and even elephants. They can all be easily killed by the
weather as well. Besides the climate being the biggest issue with farm failure,
other issues arise as well. Your family that tends to the farm can get sick and
die. This can be caused by a lack of food, water, disease, or income if your
farming hasn’t gone well for the season. Lastly the other issues that come
about are wars and militants that can come and take your crops, animals, family
and land.
Everything
seems to be stacked against you the player, who is trying to successfully start
a farm. There always seems to be issues that prevent that from happening. The
way this game could be used in a classroom is to show the vast problems that
farmers have in third world countries. Have each student try to last the
longest on the game to see who might be considered a better farmer in a third
world country. I had some fun playing it, so I think you would too.
I feel that this game would be more impactful if set in the future and in the United States. I understand that 3rd world farming is clearly very challenging, but most people will never experience this hardship and may even believe it is irrelevant to their daily life, but if you change it to farming in our country and on our land then it may carry more weight. I do like the overall concept of the game though.
ReplyDeleteI think the creators of this game also wanted to let players know the severity of climate change impact on other countries. I personally enjoy simulation games like this, it gives realistic options.
ReplyDeleteThis game sounds like it would be very challenging, with everything working against you. Playing this game would hopefully be an eye-opener for many people and make them realize that this could easily be the United States if things don't change.
ReplyDeleteThis game seems like a really good one to have students play in order to help them become more aware of the ongoing hunger problems most third world people suffer from. It seems engaging and challenging, and like Luke said, very eye-opening.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept of this game because it really starts making you consider how you are going to learn how to live in a different climate. A lot of us do not know how to farm and raise animals so this is a good introduction.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of teaching with this game. Everybody loves a little competition so why not see who can last the longest. I had a similar idea with my game. A prize at the end for motivation never hurts either.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of Third World Farmer. It sounds like you have to pay attention to a lot of the hardships of living in a third world country. Most importantly, it teaches people, so I could definitely see it having good value.
ReplyDeleteI like how this game gets us out of our american mindset and shows us how some may be directly affected by climate change. It sounds cool how there are all those external random factors working against you. It really makes you think about how difficult it would be to live in thise conditions. Having students compete is a really great idea
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