K-12 Games Win Awards in Annual Serious Play Competition
ORLANDO – July 13, 2020 – Seven K12 games have been cited for excellence in the 2020 International Serious Play Awards Program. By using the medium of games, educators have found a new way to engage their students and inspire lifelong readers.
Winning Games Created to Improve Literacy:
A Gold Medal Award was given to:
Early Literacy Game, a digital learning experience that teaches kindergarten, first and second grade students key literacy subskills through a range of minigames and repeated opportunities to practice. The game follows a team of space commanders who are responsible for keeping the world safe from various environmental dangers. Early Literacy Game was created by The Game Agency.
Silver Medal Awards went to:
Amplify Reading, a digital reading program for grades K-8 that leverages game-based learning to give students reading instruction and practice. The game utilizes a learning narrative where the students’ growth will match development of the narrative experiences. Amplify Reading was developed by Amplify.
NexAgent by Circadence, an immersive network exploration game that places the student in the seat of an agent tasked with solving common network challenges. Designed for middle school through high school-aged students, the first-person game aims to teach network security foundational skills by completing objectives like interacting with simulation droids, identifying glitches in network configurations, and progressing through cyber tasks to address vulnerabilities. NexAgent was developed by Circadence Corporation.
The Bronze Medal Award was given to
Word Beach, a crossword puzzle game where players must solve puzzles using a Boggle-style circular letter bank. It is targeted toward K-12 students, primarily elementary-level English learners, but the game’s scalable difficulty is accessible to all ages. It utilizes daily puzzles to reward frequent players and reinforce learning. Word Beach was developed by Kooapps.
Winning Games for the use on the Humanities:
A Gold Medal was awarded to:
Win the White House, an interactive game that challenges players to manage a hypothetical presidential campaign, learning about the electoral process and influences on public opinion along the way. Filament Games and iCivics developed the game to help students understand the voting system in the United States.
Bronze medals went to:
Baristasim, a game developed for people 16 and beyond studying business. Managing a coffeeshop through different stages of development, Tim Rogmans created the game to help increase understanding of basic functions and concepts of business.
Portrait of a Tyrant, a game created to help students engage with the Declaration of Independence, progressing through moral and political choices that must be made in early America. Justin Leites, Professor Danielle Allen and J Yang developed the adventure game to help participants comprehend the historical context and contemporary relevance of the Declaration of Independence.
Serious Play Conference is the only event that offers full tracks of sessions in every discipline of serious games and simulations, including Government/Military, Corporate/Non-Profit, Healthcare, Higher Education, and K-12, as well as Game Development and Instructional Design. In addition to the Serious Play Conference and Serious Play Awards competition, the Serious Play has an email newsletter and news site, Serious Play Wire.
Media Contact:
Sue Bohle
sue@seriousplayconf.com
310 721 9083