With 19 Serious Games to highlight prior to I/ITSEC, we’ll start by kicking off the 2014 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge list with A.C.T., Awareness Combats Trafficking.  

A.C. T. was designed for “digital natives,” teenagers between 14- 17, who are estimated to spend an average of 53 hours a week on their mobile devices. The game runs on smart phones or tablets and the first installment, Macy’s Story, presents an all too common occurrence where a young girl is tricked into being trafficked by a seemingly legitimate modeling scout. It is the player’s job to identify red flags signifying that Macy may be in trouble, with the help of a trusted police officer and a mutual friend of the player and the victim.

The highlights:

• ACT is a vignette-based 2D Mobile game with hotspots designed to teach middle school and high school teenagers high-level skills including how to recognize and avoid human trafficking situations.
• ACT players learn through an emotional connection with the protagonist which is supplemented by the “Hero’s Journey” narrative structure that is employed in the game’s interactive comic theme.
• A unique feature of the game is the mirroring of real life situations, such as the incorporation of simulated social networks, where a large majority of real life predators have discovered and ultimately controlled their victims.