
WHAT ARE SERIOUS GAMES FOR CHANGE?
“Serious” video games are games designed for a purpose other than pure entertainment, and can provide a virtual reality for a young girl to see the outcome of her choices. With research showing a correlation between identification of players with the characters used to represent them, serious games may influence their real-world decisions.
WHAT IS GAME OF CHOICE, NOT CHANCE ?
It's a serious video game that provides a virtual reality for a young girl to be an active navigator of her avatar’s life, enabling her to experience the simulated outcomes of her choices. A Game of Choice, Not Chance is a USAID-funded pilot program in India targeting urban and peri-urban girls 15-19, that combines the excitement of an interactive story-based video game, the instruction from reproductive health education e-learning tools, with portal features that directly link players to health products and services in real time.
THE GOAL:
ADVANCE & SUPPORT ADOLESCENT FAMILY PLANNING & REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS
Knowledge Matters
The Challenge:
There are few sources of information on fertility awareness and other family planning/reproductive health challenges targeted towards adolescents in India.
The Opportunity:
The game provides safe, confidential and accurate information as well as access points to adolescent health products and services in an approachable and fun format.
Tech as a Learning Tool
The Challenge:
Many girls do not have the agency to refuse sex and negotiate contraception.
The Opportunity:
The game provides an opportunity for girls to have an immersive audio-visual experience to build their confidence to negotiate choices and to ‘try again’ with different outcomes.
Actions and Consequences
The Challenge:
Adolescent pregnancy is on the rise.
The Opportunity:
The game offers consequences from real-life choices, illustration that the adolescents’ actions are tied directly to their choices—and not just elements of chance.
A Platform for Partnerships
The Challenge:
There are a variety of NGO, government, private-sector, and educational initiatives that exist to address adolescent health needs, yet no one portal ties it all together.
The Opportunity:
The game provides a direct-to-consumer gateway for girls to access products and services within the game.
Data is Key
The Challenge:
There is limited available data regarding the complexities and nuances of the decision-making process among adolescents on family planning and reproductive health issues.
The Opportunity:
The game structure itself provides for back end data analytics to capture game play, decision points, choices made and changes to choices.
KEY PLAYERS
DONOR:
U.S. Agency for International Development
PRIME:
Howard Delafield International, LLP (HDI)
COLLABORATING PARTNERS:
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Cycle Technologies
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Girl Effect
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Indusgeeks
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Nam ER Technology @VSGI
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Vihara Innovation Networks
US/Global Advisory Board
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Sharon Stash, Independent Global Health Consultant
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Dolly Oberoi, CEO C2 Technologies
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John Tifft, CEO Ambac Assurance UK Limited, London
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Shomu Banerjee, Professor Pedagogy, Emory University
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Colette Auerswald, MD, MS, Associate Professor, Adolescent Medicine, UC Berkeley, School of Public Health
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Rajeeb Satyal, Private Sector Partnership Advisor for South Asia/Australia
Contact: Sylvia Delafield, Co-Director/Founder, Howard Delafield International
Email: info@seriousgames4change.com
India Advisory Board
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Priya Jha, India Project Director, Evidence Action
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Aparajita Gogoi, Centre for Catalyzing Change C3
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Lalita Shankar, Independent Consultant
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Dipa Nag Chowdhury, Independent Consultant
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Shailja Mehta, DASRA
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Anand Sinha, India Country Advisor, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Contact: Lalita Shankar, India County Director, Howard Delafield International
Email: info@seriousgames4change.com
BECOME A SUPPORTING TEAM PLAYER
Game of Choice, Not Chance works with industry leaders and stakeholders to support this work and to provide services and opportunities for young women. Check back soon to see some of the groups with whom we are working.
If you are interested in partnering with this initiative, please email