自2004年以来，一个非营利组织，“游戏改变世界”（Games for Change），设计并推广了鼓励玩家不仅仅要制服外星人，而且还要将世界变得更美好的游戏。在该组织发布的第一款名为“和平缔造者”（PeaceMaker）的游戏中，游戏玩家受邀促成以色列和巴勒斯坦之间的和平。

“半边天运动游戏”（Half the Sky Movement: The Game）让玩家了解致力于妇女问题的非营利组织，并提供捐赠机会。在游戏中，玩家帮助一名印度妇女克服挑战，如创业或者获取书籍来为女童设立图书馆。在过去的三年中，约有130万人下载了该游戏，并捐赠了大约50万美元给妇女援助团体。

“游戏改变世界”的合作者、Flying Mollusk 视频游戏工作室的创始人艾琳·雷诺兹(Erin Reynolds)说：“电子游戏自然而然地会以那些在现实世界中可能不会遇到的问题向人们提出挑战，而且他们必须以此前从未想到过的方式来考虑某些问题。”

“游戏改变世界”的总裁阿斯·布拉克(Asi Burak)认为，游戏的核心在于社会性、参与性和教育性。

布拉克说：“游戏不仅就社会变革而言是激动人心的……它们是互动的，你可以做出决定，你可以看到后果。在某种程度上，你是在为自己铺路。”

谷歌(Google)、联合国(United Nations)、美国国际发展署（U.S. Agency for International Development）以及其他有影响力的组织已经认同了这个想法。

“游戏改变世界”激发了一个包括视频开发者、游戏玩家、社会活动家、政策制定者和学者在内的社区。在其2014年度盛会上，联合国代表介绍了一个基于“我的世界”（Minecraft）开发的游戏，游戏的主题是地方社区在他们的街区设计公共空间。

在2015年的盛会上，“游戏改变世界”扩大了其影响范围，以吸引更多来自不同背景以及不同的社会和种族群体的游戏开发商、游戏玩家和合作伙伴。

布拉克说：“我们非常努力地让尽可能多的声音参与进来。”

Don’t just zap space aliens. Change the world. 
 

 Military commandos, zombies, ninjas and aliens are not the only video game characters in town — or in the global village.

Since 2004, Games for Change, a nonprofit group, has designed and promoted games that inspire players not to zap space aliens but instead to change the world for the better. In the first game released by the group, called PeaceMaker, gamers were invited to broker peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Half the Sky Movement: The Game teaches players about nonprofits dedicated to women’s issues and provides donation opportunities. In the game, players help an Indian woman overcome challenges like starting a business and obtaining books to establish a library for girls. Some 1.3 million people have downloaded the game in the past three years and given around $500,000 to groups that aid women.

“Games naturally challenge people with problems that they may not face in the real world,” says Erin Reynolds, founder of the Flying Mollusk video game studio that partners with Games for Change. “They have to think about certain issues in ways that they’ve never thought about them before.”

Games for Change President Asi Burak believes that gaming is social, participatory and educational at its core.

“Games are not only exciting for social change … they are interactive, you can make decisions, you can get the consequences,” Burak says. “In a way, you pave your own way.”

Google, the United Nations, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other influential organizations have bought into the idea.

Games for Change has inspired a community of video developers, gamers, social activists, policymakers and academics. At their 2014 annual festival, U.N. representatives presented a Minecraft-based game in which local communities design public spaces in their neighborhoods.

At the 2015 festival, Games for Change expanded its reach to attract game developers, gamers and partners from more diverse backgrounds and social and ethnic groups.

“We try very hard to bring as many voices as we can,” Burak said.