WASHINGTON —While debate continues over President Obama’s most recent budget released on Monday, ordinary Americans have already been hard at work trying to balance the budget – playing a new game, Budget Hero , over 1,000,000 times. The interactive “serious game” challenges Americans from every part of the political spectrum to balance the federal budget. In so doing it provides a tool for bringing ordinary citizens into the debate over the federal budget, highlighting their budget priorities to policymakers, and giving them a look at the priorities of others and the genuine difficulty of balancing the budget without making real sacrifices. Students from Loyola Marymount, the University of Louisville, and DC public schools have tried to crack the budget in Budget Hero demonstrations around the country, as well as thousands of Americans playing online. Try your hand at bringing down the federal debt at www.budgethero.org . “Budget Hero is filled with tough choices that engage players in the daunting task facing the Super Committee,” said Marketplace host Kai Ryssda. “The cuts needed to save over a trillion dollars require serious compromise. [These students are] about to learn how hard it is to reconcile political philosophy with the choices that are going to be necessary to win this game.” An engaging and fun civics lesson for the internet age, Budget Hero is already being incorporated into curriculum in schools across the nation, including the University of Louisville and the U.S. Naval Academy. Click here to watch local coverage of the Budget Hero demo at the University of Louisville. One teacher from New York City called Budget Hero “the BEST tool that I could give [my students] to help them to understand economic and political issues.” The game, developed by American Public Media’s Public Insight Network and The Wilson Center, makes it easy for people to compare their budget results to others and share them on Twitter and Facebook, as thousands of people have done. The latest version of Budget Hero, which includes policy proposals by the Gang of 6 and the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction committee, can be accessed at: www.budgethero.org , wilsoncenter.org , or Marketplace.org . PC Game Reviews and News You can also follow CaptainD on Google+ to stay up to date with the latest news and reviews.
Continued here:
Budget Game Gives Public Chance to be “Heroes”
Recent Comments