‘People Power’ video game now available

This short video by Voice of America looks at “People Power: The Game of Civil Resistance,” a video game that has just been released by York-Zimmerman. The TV and film company, which has also produced several important documentaries on nonviolent action, including Bringing Down a Dictator, about Otpor and the student-led movement that brought Slobodan Milosevic down in 2000:

…hired [Optor leader Ivan] Marovic to help create video games – that show non-violent strategies to help remove oppressive governments.  The second, and most recent game is “People Power – The Game of Civil Resistance.”  It contains fictional scenarios in which the leader of a non-violent movement uses tactics such as street protests, strikes and boycotts.  Speaking from Belgrade, Serbia, Marovic said people who play the game are likely to be young and educated.

“The game allows you to see all the complexities of a political struggle, and to kind of focus on all the nuances, and all the details that are necessary, in order to make the right move,” he said.

When I attended the Fletcher Summer Institute last year I had the opportunity to try the game out before it hit the market and look forward to spending more time with it now that it’s finally out.

The game can only be downloaded online at peoplepowergame.com and is reasonably priced at $10.

And if you can’t afford that price and would like the game for educational purposes, you can contact the company and get a copy for free. Currently it’s only available in English, but it’ll soon be available in Arabic, Farsi, Russian and Spanish.