World without OilIf you want to change the future, play with it first

"WORLD WITHOUT OIL is a serious game for the public good. WWO invited people from all walks of life to contribute 'collective imagination' to confront a real-world issue: the risk our unbridled thirst for oil poses to our economy, climate and quality of life. It’s a milestone in the quest to use games as democratic, collaborative platforms for exploring possible futures and sparking future-changing action. WWO set the model for using a hot net-native storytelling method (‘alternate reality’) to meet civic and educational goals. Best of all, it was compellingly fun.

"WORLD WITHOUT OIL simulated the first 32 weeks of a global oil crisis. It established a citizen 'nerve center'to track events and share solutions. Anybody could play by creating a personal story – an email or phone call, or for advanced users a blog post, video, photo, podcast, twitter, whatever – that chronicled the imagined reality of their life in the crisis. The WWO site at worldwithoutoil.org links to all these stories. The game encouraged excellence with daily awards and recognition for authentic and intriguing stories"

"A 'serious game' is one that intends
more than entertainment for its players

"Serious games generally aim to teach or train, often by realistically simulating some aspect of a world system. Examples include: business training games, disaster preparedness games, flight or driving simulators, games that help patients understand how their bodies are fighting an infection or cancer, and so on. Serious games can be very effective at education, because they allow players to test and experiment with systems, which leads to better understanding of the relationships that comprise the system.

"An 'alternate reality game' is an interactive, transmedia narrative that evolves in response to what its players do

"An alternate reality game (ARG) 'is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions. ARGs are typified by intense player involvement with a story that takes place in real time and evolves according to participants' responses, and with characters that are actively controlled by the game's designers. ARGs generally rely on the Internet as the central binding medium' (Wikipedia). ARGs are attracting attention because they have been able to engage large numbers of players in collaborative efforts to solve very difficult puzzles and challenges."

World Without Oil