The Sky is the Limit
author: Maartje Kool, Valérie Perridon, Inge Renes and Marieke Veere Vonk
“No, no, I decline” may sound like a negative reaction, but during our minor Gamification, it was the exact response we were hoping to get.
Six months ago, we – Marieke Veere, Inge, Maartje and Valérie – stood at the start of what was going to be an interesting, educative, intense and extraordinary semester. During this minor we got the chance to create gamified concepts for real clients, with real problems. Due to the fact that Gamification is one of the minors within the social practices, every client had a social issue that had to be solved. We were given the choice of working for one of the four clients: three of them were based in Rotterdam and the fourth one in South Africa. Wait a second – what? An African client? Yes indeed. We would be working for Play The City in Amsterdam, under the guidance of Ekim Tan – but also indirectly for the NGO Nicro in Cape Town, South Africa. The challenge: create a serious game or gamification approach that would help youth of 12-17 years prevent from falling into crime activities. Considering the interesting challenge and the international possibilities, we were excited right away. This was the reason we didn’t hesitate to go for the South Africa case. Let’s change some lives for the better! Or at least try, right?
With our varying professions combined – Illustration, Leisure Management, Spatial Design and Advertising – we started a period of theoretical research and concept developing. During this time we developed the concept, which we would continue to work on for the rest of the minor: The Sky Is The Limit. A boardgame that should make South African children conscious of their future prospects and the negative impact that gangs can have on these. In the game, children learn to invest in themselves by buying object-, study- and jobcards. With these cards they can climb their careerpaths and reach their dreamjobs. Every card contains practical advice and information, which children can use to get their dreamjob in real life. During the game, children also have to take the gang into account. The gang is always around to give players special offers. But joining the gang has consequences! So players must constantly make the choice between working hard and getting their dreamjob or joining the gang and earn money in a way that puts them and their ‘families’ at risk.
We were thrilled. We developed a game that contained every aspect of the problem and would definitely work! … or not? Actually we didn’t know if our so called ‘great’ game would work. Will our game really change lives in a positive way? Or is it just a fun game to play on a Friday night? We decided that the only way of knowing that for certain, was to go to Africa and test the game with the target group. However, a trip to Africa: isn't that a bit bizarre? Nevertheless we plucked up the courage and tried to organize it. And it worked. Because three weeks later we landed at Cape Town Airport. A little tense, but with lots of excitement, we started our two weeks of researching and testing.
To get a better view of the situation in Cape Town, we approached several stakeholders. We spoke for instance with youngsters about their experience with gangs, but we also spoke with kids who had been in jail for gang related crimes. Notable was the openness with which they told their stories, even though some stories were quite intense and personal. Anelisa, 19 years old and a student at the Ubuntu Academy, told us that she once got stabbed in the back. Uh – what? “Yes”, she continued, “but that happens. Crime is just everywhere.” As interviewers, we tried to keep our face straight, but our features must have shown the shock. But that was nothing compared to what Marcello, a 25 year old student at Young In Prison, told us next. He shared the story of him getting arrested for attempted murder. He was together with his nephew, when his nephew shot a girl. “I think she was just about eleven years old and from that moment on paralyzed from the neck down…”, said Marcello. In spite of the fact that some stories scared the hell out of us, they all were of great value to us.
Next it was time to test our game. Nicro helped us arranging meetings with children of the Kwamfundo Primary School with whom we could play our game. Since we couldn’t assume that these children were familiar with boardgames and to make certain that the children would completely understand our game, one of us took on the role of game leader. By explaining the game piece by piece, the children understood the game surprisingly fast. From here onwards, they were busy as beavers collecting objects, studies and jobs. From the giggling and the comments emerging from the group, we concluded that they really enjoyed the game. But, for a second, we were worried. Is the game more fun than educational? Do they actually learn the things we wanted to teach them? However, soon after that our worries were put aside by one little girl. When she received an offer from the gang, she told us wholeheartedly: ‘No, no, I decline’. And that was exactly what we wanted to hear. After playing the game we started a discussion to find out what the children had learned. It appeared that the kids not only had understood that a life in a gang has its consequences, but also that you have to invest in yourself to eventually get the future you’ve always dreamed of. Yes, they told us exactly what we wanted to hear.
Full of joy and satisfaction we flew back to the Netherlands, to present our improved work to our client, Play The City. Ekim Tan was pleasantly surprised and together we discussed some more adjustments to make our work even better. Meanwhile, we have reached a phase of production and realization. It has even been decided that the game has not only potential for kids in Cape Town, but for the entire African continent! The boardgame is now beautifully illustrated, every piece of educational information has been generalized and perfected, and all the elements are bundled in a fancy box. We hope to ship an amount of prototypes to Africa for a second test period, presumably February-March. With the extra test results we can improve the game even further in order to produce the final version.
With this game we hope that in the future not only that one little girl, but all African children will say ‘No, no, I decline’.
Maartje Kool, Valérie Perridon, Inge Renes and Marieke Veere Vonk studie Illustration, Leisure Management, Spatial Design and Advertising with a the minor in Gamification at the Willem the Kooning academy in Rotterdam.
