Consider your audience

There are many different ways to categorize an audience, but two questions need to be considered  when making a game for impact: “Who do you hope to reach with your message of potential change?” And “Who do you think the game can or will reach?”

Your project may have an easily defined audience; for example, if it is intended to be used in a school setting or if it is being created for a particular client. In these cases, communication with the client or audience specific research can help you craft the impact goal.

Alternatively, your audience might be more speculative or open; in cases like this, imagining the potential audience can also drive design decisions. For example, if you want your game to influence opinion and your target audience is likely already on board with the message, fine details and more data might be appropriate; if the audience is likely to be skeptical, a game that produces a more emotional impact might have more traction.

Regarding the game itself, there are a few parameters you’ll want to set forth before beginning production. Some of these depend on the target audience, but are specific to how you’ll build the game.

• What kind of access do you imagine the audience having in terms of technology or platforms? Is it exclusively mobile phones? Might they want to play on a PC?
• What type of game genres do you imagine appealing to this audience? Story-based? Action? Simulation? 
• How easy or difficult should the game be? Ease of play provides accessibility, but a game that’s too easy can lack engagement.

Having the audience in mind throughout the process will help inform the design and iteration process, and will also guide who you should be looking for in order to playtest your game and to assess its success.

Also take note that inclusion is one of the judging criteria for Unity for Humanity. This applies to your development process, but should also be addressed in terms of steps taken to make the game as accessible as possible to its intended audience.

What’s cool, special, and different about game design is that you’re always designing something for people to do. In other words, a game only begins to function when it has some kind of a direct effect on its player. 

Games always have impact.

As a participant in Unity for Humanity, you have the challenge and opportunity to create a game where the impact on the player is aligned with the change you’d like to create in the world. 

Watch this video for inspiration for how your game will change the world!