PREPARATION FOR THE CCR VIDEO CONFERENCE
UPPSALA UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN & STANFORD UNIVERSITY, USA
Please take some time to play and explore the games linked for your group below prior to the video
conference. (You only need play the games assigned for your group, not all of them.).
Here’s the best process by which to prepare for our video conference:
1. Look at the focus questions (below) so as to put your gaming experience within an academic and
rhetorical context
2. Read the context/links to better understand the game’s rhetorical situation, purpose, audience, and
authors.
3. Click on the “play” link to play the game.
4. As you play, pause occasionally to jot down a few notes to help provide a foundation for the group
analysis that you will be doing during the video conference. If there is no pause/resume feature on
the game, write your notes after completely a level or the game. Bring those notes with you to the
video conference.
5. Recommended playing time for each game: no longer than 10 minutes (even if you do not beat the
game). If you play for longer than 10 minutes, that no longer counts as preparation – that just counts
as fun!
Focus questions to consider as you review the games assigned for your group:

Think about argument: What argument does the game implicitly make through its design and
gameplay?

Think about rhetorical situation: author, text, audience, rhetorical appeals.
o Author. Who created the game or what organization sponsors it? How does the identity of
the game designer influence your understanding of the game’s argument and cultural
assumptions?
o Audience. Who is the intended audience of the game? How can you tell? Through the
gameplay (i.e., simplicity or complexity of game design)? Through the graphic design?
Through in-game references?
o Text. What type of game is it? For instance:
 A shooter game (which involves shooting weapons at targets)?
 A role-playing game (which asks the player to take on a specific identity and then
engage in a “story” as that character)?
 A strategy game (which asks the gamer to think through multiple options and
strategize during gameplay)?
 A simulation game (where the gamer explores a simulated scenario or event)?
A game might contain one or more of these elements. How do these design choices affect
and/or determine the argument that the game makes?
o Rhetorical appeals. To what extent is the game driven by pathos (trying to produce an
emotional connection with the audience)? By ethos (working through appeals to authority or
credibility)? By logos (trying to appeal through facts and reason)? How does the kairos of
the game factor into the success of its argument?

Think about cultural values.
o How does the game reflect or construct cultural values or doxa? Through underlying
assumptions, characterization, graphic design, options provided to players in the game?
o What is the argument it makes implicitly (or explicitly) through its gameplay and design, and
how does that reinforce or shape cultural values (through nomos – imposing new cultural
values on an audience)?
Groups and Games
GROUP A: Human Rights


Homeland Guantanamos
o Context: Webpage at http://www.homelandgitmo.com/
o Play: http://www.homelandgitmo.com/ (game appears in the center screen; appears more
quickly if you click on “skip intro”)
Ayiti: The Cost of Life:
o Context: Webpage at http://costoflife.ning.com/
o Play: http://ayiti.globalkids.org/game/
Group B. Public Health and Poverty

Homeless

Spent
o
Play: http://wetcoast.org/games/homeless/homeless.swf
o
o

Context: http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/spent/
Play: http://playspent.org/
Free Rice
o Context: Description at http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/free-rice/
o Play: http://freerice.com/#/english-vocabulary/1461
Group C. Environmental Issues and Natural Resources


Energyville
o Context: Description at http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/energyville/
o Play: http://www.willyoujoinus.com/energyville/
Oiligarchy
o
o
Context: Description of the company that made it at
http://www.molleindustria.org/en/about. The company’s extended description of the
game: http://www.molleindustria.org/oiligarchy-postmortem
Play: http://www.molleindustria.org/en/oiligarchy NOTE: Do not click on the Group
D. Global Politics & Global Conflict

Darfur is Dying
2
o
o

Context: Website: http://www.darfurisdying.com/aboutgame.html (Be sure to read
“About the Game” and follow links also for “Background” and “Take Action”)
Play: http://www.darfurisdying.com/index.html
The Orange Revolution
o Play: http://www.tigweb.org/games/orange/
Group E. War and Peace



September 12th
o Context: Description at http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/september-12th-a-toy-world/
o Play: http://www.newsgaming.com/games/index12.htm
Raid Gaza.
o Play: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/476393
Nuclear Weapons: The Peace Dove Game
o Context: Website at
http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/peace/nuclear_weapons/index.html
o Play: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/peace/nuclear_weapons/game.html
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