Games for Change has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for its game design challenge winner, nuclear weapons game Epic Orphan.
Epic Orphan is an episodic adventure-puzzle game that raises social awareness about the fight against nuclear weapons. Players explore the world as an agent tracking “orphan sources,” or uncontrolled radioactive materials, to safeguard against nuclear weapons incidents.
The title was the prize winner from Games for Change’s N Square Challenge, a design competition that sought original concepts for games dealing with the risk of nuclear weapons. Epic Orphan was created by freelance editor Yvette Chin. Games for Change is enlisting help from nuclear security experts for accuracy and educational games developer Filament Games to produce Epic Orphan.
In Epic Orphan, players might use cryptography to unlock data on a cell phone or participate in resource management to ensure a power plant’s fail-safes can mitigate an earthquake.
“While the [minigames] are designed to be engaging and novel, they are also intended to provide more context and a systems-level approach to understanding issues,” reads the Kickstarter.
Games for Change is seeking a modest crowdfunding goal of $37,500 from backers to develop the title.