Many video games are predominately sources of fun. While that doesn't preclude benefits like improving problem solving or the oft-cited boost to hand-eye coordination, most gamers are playing games first and foremost for their own enjoyment. That said, the uniquely interactive medium games provide can function as a powerful teaching tool. The Rensselaer Center of Excellence in Digital Game Development, a game development program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY recognizes this. Rensselaer's game development center has just announced that it's offering up to $4,750 for games being developed about the COVID-19 pandemic by residents of New York state.
Interested developers must first submit a proposal to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Games that are eligible for this grant must be designed around public health education as well as awareness of the efforts undergone by the state of New York in addressing the spread of coronavirus.
This initiative is not the first time the program has supported games designed around promoting public health education. Currently both members of the school's faculty and its students are creating a game titled Cure Quest in collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Once completed, Cure Quest aims to be a game experience that can be enjoyed by the general gaming public and those studying to work in the health care industry alike. Cure Quest's premise is that a character, controlled by the player, is sent to an island on which a new kind of disease is threatening its inhabitants. In-game progression is defined by working towards a drug that can cure the disease.
Furthermore, Kathleen Ruiz, who works at Rensselaer as an associate professor of arts, recently created a game titled Rule 73. This title was created specifically with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, and faces players with a simulation of mainstream news sources. The player is then responsible for deducing social, political and economic effects resultant from the virus.
Ruiz explained that she created the game in hopes of addressing a variety of global narratives that have and will continue to emerge about the pandemic. Those with similar aspirations who live in the New York area can submit their game ideas to Rensselaer.
Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute