Games for Change Festival: June 17-29 in New York City

The 10th Anniversary Games for Change Festival is the largest gaming event in New York City and the leading international event uniting creators of games for change with those interested in accessing the positive social impact of games. With less than one month left in registration, tickets are going fast! Last year’s Festival sold out with more than 800 attendees — register now to get your ticket.

As a BrainPOP Educator, you can get 10% off Festival registration with the code “BrainPOP”.

At the Games for Change Festival, our very own Allisyn Levy, Senior Director of Educator Experience, will discuss “Getting Your Game into the Classroom: 3 Things Serious Game Makers Can Do,” with Peter Stidwill of the Learning Games Network and Barbara Chamberlin of the Learning Games Lab at New Mexico State University. Designers sometimes struggle to get their games played in classrooms — particularly in ways that support meaningful learning. This panel will share three specific strategies game developers can implement to support effective classroom use.

Be sure to view the full program of keynotes, speakers, workshops, panels, rants, and events, and check out a few more highlights below:

• A conversation with Stacey Childress, Deputy Director of Education, and leader of the K-12 next-generation learning portfolio at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

• James Paul Gee, the Cooney Center’s Michael Levine, Amplify’s Diana Rhoten, Education Week’s Kevin Bushweller, the Institute of Play’s Katie Salen, and E-Line Media’s Alan Gershenfeld.

• A first look at the line-up of educational games launching this fall from News Corp.’s independent subsidiary, Amplify, featuring indie developers Schell Games, Preloaded, High Line Games, Fay Games, Zachtronics, Strange Loop, and Bossa Studios.

• What’s the connection among neuroscience, learning, play, and games? We have one panel determined to find out.

• And you’re likely to hear some healthy doses of skepticism around games and the classroom during a series of rants under the theme “Gamifying Schools and Schoolifying Games.”

• The U.S. Department of Defense, which has launched more than 40 games in the past 10 years, will forecast the future direction of games in the government.

• The team behind Half the Sky Movement: The Game, which has seen 650,000 players and counting since it launched on Facebook in March, will share insights on developing and publishing a large-scale social impact game, with speakers from Zynga.org, Frima Studio and Games for Change.

• Find out how New York City partnered with Kognito Interactive to support citizens’ mental health following Hurricane Sandy.

• Nonprofit Global Kids shares how mobile technologies can engage youth in public space exploration, local history, and civic participation.

• Developer James Vaughan will explore how mobile game Plague Inc., which caught the attention of the CDC earlier this year, educates millions of people and why it is effective at doing so.

• Learn how games researcher Jessica Hammer created a games-based youth education program in Ethiopia with Girl Effect, an NGO created by the Nike Foundation in collaboration with the NoVo Foundation.

•Six thought leaders from the videogames industry will keynote the “10 Years of Games for Change” series: Leigh Alexander, Ian Bogost, Robin Hunicke, Brenda Romero, Jesse Schell, and Eric Zimmerman.

• The “Win Win: Models for Creating a Social Impact Game on a Budget” panel will outline four ways organizations can team up with indie game designers on game projects.

• Tribeca Hacks and Tiny Games are among the hands-on workshops.

• Richard Hofmeier, winner of the Independent Games Festival grand prize for his retail simulator Cart Life, and Jenny Kuglin of Inkthirsty will speak on how the essential appeal of games can exploit their victims’ trust (and other cheap psychological tricks).

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Hope to see you at the Festival! Follow along with the action using #G4C13.