Trócaire launch award-winning ‘Project Honduras’ game

Trócaire has launched its ‘Project Honduras’ Development Education computer game, an innovative new way to teach young people in Ireland about the impacts of climate change overseas.

The agency also launched the Trócaire ‘Game Changers’ competition at DCU (St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra) to encourage young people to use games as a way to explore global issues.

‘Project Honduras’, which recently won the International Educational Game Competition 2018, is the first online Development Education game of its kind in Ireland – a strategy game where the primary goal is to show how important it is for communities to work together to combat climate change.

Aimed at 10-14-year-olds, the game is based on the real-life experiences of two young climate activists Javier and Andrea, who featured in Trócaire’s 2017 Lent resources on climate action.

Primary-school students from Gaelscoil Bharra, Cabra, who tested the game, were present at to play the game at the launch day at DCU, St Patrick’s.

Speaking at the launch at DCU (St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra), Jen Murphy, Trócaire’s Development Education manager, said: “We’re delighted to formally launch Trócaire’s ‘Project Honduras’ game with the help of DCU and the students of Gaelscoil Bharra, Cabra.

“The game went through extensive testing with both students and teachers during development and we’re confident that this ensured that Trócaire produced something teachers could use and students could enjoy.

“We’re really pleased that the game has been so well received so far and we hope that it will help as an educational tool to raise awareness of some of the issues that communities are facing around the world due to climate change.”

‘Project Honduras’ won the International Educational Game Competition 2018 for the best game in development, beating stiff competition from games designers from China, America, Brazil, France, Germany and the UK, at the Educational Conference on Games-based Learning in France.

The game was designed by digital agency eightytwenty and Trócaire in consultation with Trócaire’s Honduras office, who are now exploring the possibility of a translation into Spanish and use in local communities in Honduras to support emergency preparedness.

Shortlisted for the Dóchas Innovation Award for 2018, it is the first online game of its kind created for Development Education in Ireland.

Children can play the game online on at www.trocaire.org/education/project-honduras

Meanwhile, Trócaire ‘Game Changers’ is a new competition for young people who want to change the world and believe that games are a way to do this.

Games submitted must explore a Development Education theme and fall under one of the following game formats: Board Game, Card Game or Video Game.

Entries must be submitted by April 12, 2019 in Senior Primary, Post Primary or Youth Group categories. For further information, visit trocaire.org/gamechangers