Playforce

Developed in partnership with E-line Media, Playforce is a multi-platform ecology of online experiences that engage youth, parents and educators in an exploration of what makes digital games good for learning. The first component in the experience is a quest embedded in the online adventure game Gamestar Mechanic. The quest establishes a critical framework to assess the usefulness of games in learning, guiding users as they play to gain mastery in writing game reviews. Games are reviewed against rubrics based on the Common Core content standards, twenty-first-century competencies and more traditional game review criteria.

Players who successfully complete the quest are invited to join a larger online community, where, as master game reviewers, they can use their new skills on the digital games that most excite them. Along the way they help build a powerful resource for educators and parents looking to discover good games related to specific learning content or skills. This resource will be embeddable as a content stream on other sites with a mission to help parents and teachers find good games. 

Currently under development, the system is scheduled for a beta launch in 2012.