Playing Politics Online Workshop

EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION IN POLITICAL SIMULATION GAMES

The extent to which the two online political simulation games, “September 12th” and “Kabul Kaboom” have been effective in communicating with people via the internet seems to be fairly limited.
Although the underlying messages of the games are expressed in an interesting way, the people that access them are likely to already be aware of the circumstances that the games are attempting to comment on. For example, the critique of the US government’s tactics of eliminating terrorists contained in September 12th was easily identifiable. Thus it feels futile to continually reiterate the ideas suggested by playing the game. However, and more positively, the act of playing the game is one way to motivate and encourage further thought and action on the issue.
However, for those who come across the game and are initially interested by merely the gaming aspect of it would probably further enquire about the ideas that underlie the game. Although this may not be an active process, such as by reading articles that articulate theories behind the game, the views offered by the games act as an alternative means of communicating critiques to a wider audience.