‘Gaming for Good’: Our Hackathon Initiative with Junior Achievement

- Impact Featured ‘Gaming for Good’: Our Hackathon Initiative with Junior Achievement Back to Kingdom News At King, we want to use our magical culture to make a positive impact on our people, players and planet. As part of our celebrations for Earth Day, we had some fun launching a European hackathon series, ‘Gaming for Good’, starting out in Stockholm on 26th April. With sustainability in mind, these are intended as a way to offer young people a platform to innovate in game design, reflecting our commitment to social responsibility and community engagement.  Kingsters know what it feels like to want to get to the top of the leaderboard, both in-game and in our careers. But we also understand that, in life, not everyone starts on the same level. It can seem easier for some players to progress than it is for others.  “It’s so important for us to show young people what careers in tech could be like. It’s so hard when you’re in school to get an idea of what’s out there,” says Ida Bjurman, Lead UX Designer. That's why we’re on a mission to improve the representation of underrepresented groups in STEAM careers (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and are so glad to be able to level up our social impact initiatives, making a positive difference with five partners across Europe – one of these being Junior Achievement. Who are Junior Achievement? Junior Achievement is dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed. For over 100 years they have been delivering hands-on, experiential learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial health. Just last year, the Junior Achievement Europe network provided six million learning experiences for young people, both online and in-person. With creds like that, we thought they would make perfect partners for us on our social impact mission. King and Junior Achievement – Making the World Playful together Earlier this year, we announced a ground-breaking partnership with Junior Achievement. Together, we’re aiming to empower 380 students from underrepresented group through 800 immersive learning experiences. They will be supported by over 100 Kingster volunteers mentoring them throughout 2024.  Through hands-on activities and exposure to real-world scenarios, students will develop essential skills and explore potential career pathways within these evolving industries. As the worlds of tech and gaming continue to grow, initiatives like this serve as catalysts for social and economic progress, helping people thrive in the digital era. We’re so excited to create a lasting impact on the lives of hundreds of students across Europe. And we’re not the only ones who can’t wait to make it happen! Here's what Salvatore, CEO of Junior Achievement Europe, had to say about the partnership, "We are thrilled to join forces with King to empower underserved students and provide them with opportunities to explore the exciting world of STEAM education and tech careers. Through this partnership, we aim to inspire and equip the next generation of innovators and leaders, ensuring that no talent goes untapped." The 'Gaming for Good' Hackathons Some of the main activities kicking off the partnership are our hackathons, organised across Sweden and Spain, with more to come in Germany and the UK. Our theme has been sustainability, another cause close to us at King. We’ve been challenging participants to come up with a mobile game that champions environmental sustainability. A game with an aim to inspire positive change for the planet. Their creations should educate players on the United Nations’ 17 environmental goals, while also entertaining them through innovative gameplay.  Having visited Stockholm and Barcelona so far, we’ve been inspired by the creativity and fresh perspectives of the younger generations, and been blown away by some of the ideas our participants have had. We’ve always known that video games are powerful tools to inform and educate players on societal issues, but seeing that come to life truly confirms it. What's gone on so far?  Taking first place in our Stockholm event was a concept called Tree Planters Saga. This environmental puzzle game was all about connecting pipes to secure water flow to a tree, helping the tree to grow. The game was set up in a way that as each player advances through different stages of the game, a portion of advertising and other in-game revenues would be donated to a tree planting organisation. Second place went to Angel Child, a game following a central character that travels through time from 2024 to 2050, where climate change has destroyed the Earth. The player works their way through puzzles caused by the climate crisis, whilst being educated on how they could have prevented particular disasters in the first place.  In third place we had a game concept called Plastic Tsunami, a simple and clever idea centered around cleaning up the sea and freeing fish that are trapped by plastic. “The level of creativity and the killer proposals blew my mind! There's so much talent brewing in these young minds, and it's projects like this that really fire me up to support the upcoming power generations. Sometimes we end up learning as much as they do.” Daniel Iglesias Durán, Senior Level Designer  Want to see what happens at our London Hackathon? Follow @LifeAtKing on Instagram and keep an eye on our stories 👀​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Back to Kingdom News Dont forget to share this post! 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