Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this simulation lets kids become an emergency aid worker trying to save a country from starvation. It creates a powerful experience for children without overwhelming them. At one point, they will be driving a truck full of food when they are stopped by armed rebel forces. Kids will be given choices of what to say to talk their way through to the blockade -- will they bluff their way through or tell the truth about what is in their trucks?
Families exploring this game may want to discuss what is happening in Darfur and other hunger crisis areas. They may want to discuss ways that kids can help fight world hunger.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
Live 8, the global concerts earlier this summer to fight poverty in Africa, greatly increased awareness of world hunger. But most kids don't understand how international aid organizations actually work to help starving people.
That's where a video game can help. Food Force gives kids between the ages of 8 and 13 a better understanding of how relief organizations operate.
Produced by the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), Food Force is a free Internet download at www.food-force.com.
Kids join a crack team of emergency aid workers as they race to save the fictitious island of Sheylan from starvation caused by drought and civil war.
The team goes on six missions to help save Sheylan. Each mission starts with a briefing by one of the emergency aid characters. Kids then play a hands-on game to score enough points to complete the mission. For example, in the first mission, kids pilot a helicopter by using the computer mouse. Time is limited, and kids earn points by locating refugees. After piloting, the Food Force character returns to evaluate the kid's performance and uses an accompanying video showing the WFP in action to make the whole process seem more real.
The additional missions cleverly use games to demonstrate how emergency aid teams acquire food, make food packs, deliver food, and establish long-term food supplies.
When kids complete all six missions, they can upload their cumulative score to an international database found on the Food Force website. The website also provides information about how kids can help fight hunger, and it allows them to explore more about the work of the WFP. Teachers will find lesson plans that incorporate the game.
Food Force effectively reaches tweens and teens with 3D graphics and characters that resemble those in popular commercial titles. By using video gaming to create a dynamic learning environment, kids feel as if they're a part of the team who saved Sheylan. The WFP's free video game helps to bring closer to home the problems of world hunger, which are often thousands of miles away.
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