A More Cooperative ‘Monopoly’

A new game called Co-opoly is in the works.

This board game resembles monopoly in its bare-bones objective: to succeed in business. However, rather than players competing to earn the most money, players must work together to win the game. “Everyone wins – or everybody loses,” the game advertises.

Unlike Monopoly, which encourages an ultra-competitive attitude and is the source of numerous fights amongst friends and family members, Co-opoly teaches about the value of collaboration and solidarity, still through a hands-on economic model role-playing game accessible to children and adults.

As Co-opoly’s founders explain:

Cooperatives are not a form of charity, they are a means of self-help and solidarity…By playing Co-opoly, players will learn about the unique benefits, challenges, and operations of the cooperative world – as well as the skills needed to participate in a co-op!

Co-opoly is being advertised on Kickstarter, a new online forum where individuals can promote their projects and solicit donations.

On Kickstarter, anybody can pledge money to a project, but the project will not receive any of the money unless it reaches its full fundraising goal by a certain date. Co-opoly’s creators, The Toolbox for Education and Social Action, are asking for $8,800 by October 2nd.

I’m a big believer in the abilities of games to teach important life skills. There are a lot of interesting articles on why gaming can be good for educational purposes.

Escapist Magazine, referred to me by a fellow Brandeisian, has a good video on how interactive games can better be utilized in the classroom, and the Christian Science Monitor discusses a UN-program for college students in Vermont to bring attention to domestic violence for South African youths through cell phone games.

Check out the Social Justice games category for more games and their social justice analyses!