Ohio University students gathered in Bentley Hall on Thursday afternoon to learn how to play the newest edition of an online game that allows a user to control budgets and help them become more informed on national policies.
The game Budget Hero was created in 2008 by the Serious Games program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. However, students were allowed to test out the new version, Budget Hero: Election Edition.
“The election edition (was) launched on Sept. 19,” said Diane Tucker, director of Serious Games Initiative. “Policies (in the game) are all based on real policies.”
The OU Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs organized the event after bringing Geoffrey Dabelko, senior advisor of the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center and new professor at the Voinovich School, to OU.
The Voinovich School looked for potential ways to collaborate with the Wilson Center, said Mark Weinberg, director of the Voinovich School. Dabelko talked to former colleagues about bringing the game to campus because it addresses important topics, according to Weinberg. This event was the first on which they had collaborated.
Students who played also seemed to find the game helpful to them.
Svetlana Bondareva, a sophomore in the Master of Public Administration program, said that Budget Hero helped provide explanations of aspects of the United States budget system that confused her.
“At first (Budget Hero) was a little bit confusing, but I like this game because it’s very visual,” she said. “I would definitely recommend it (to my peers) because we need to have priorities (and) think about our policies and strategies.”
The Wilson Center has helped students at other colleges, such as the University of Maryland, learn more about U.S. budget systems and develop their own opinions of policies. The center has also made the game available to a few high schools and even developed a version for middle school students, Tucker said.
Budget Hero: Election Edition, along with other versions, is available online and can be played any time.
“The more people play, the more informed people are, the better,” Tucker said.
