World Bank Institute Launches Online Game EVOKE, a Crash Course in Changing the World
The World Bank Institute has launched an online multiplayer game, EVOKE, designed to empower young people all over the world, but especially in Africa, to start solving urgent social problems like hunger, poverty, disease, conflict, climate change, sustainable energy, lack of health care and education.
Over 4,000 participants from more than 120 countries and territories pre-registered to start playing on March 3. They will be challenged to complete a series of ten missions and ten quests -- one per week, over the course of the ten-week game.
"EVOKE helps players learn 21st century skills to become the social innovators who shape the future,” said Robert Hawkins, a Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank Institute, and Executive Producer for the game. "Top players will also earn real-world honors and rewards, namely mentorships with experienced social innovators and business leaders, and scholarships to share their vision for the future at an EVOKE Summit to be held in Washington DC.”
Players who successfully complete ten online missions in ten weeks will also be able to receive a special distinction: World Bank Institute Social Innovator – Class of 2010.
The project began as a response to African universities' desire to engage students in real world problems and to develop capacities for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial action that will be the engine for job creation now and in the future.
"An evoke is an urgent call to innovation," says the game's creative director, Jane McGonigal. "When we evoke, we look for creative solutions and learn how to tackle the world's toughest problems with creativity, courage, resourcefulness and collaboration."
Set in the year 2020, the game’s story follows the efforts of a mysterious network of Africa’s best problem-solvers. Each week, as players unravel the mystery of the Evoke network, they will form their own innovation networks: brainstorming creative solutions to real-world development challenges, learning more about what it takes to be a successful social innovator, and finding ways to make a difference in the world.
"In the world of the EVOKE graphic novel, the people most prepared for the problems of the future are the ones who are grappling with them today," says EVOKE story director Kiyash Monsef. "And that's exactly what our players are doing by participating in this game. They're preparing for the future."