Game Information
| Title | Tanzanian Trader |
| Presenter(s) | Brian Winn, Chris Dasbach, Andrew Dennis |
| Session | Play the Past: Where Meaningful Play and Digital Humanities Meet to Talk |
| Time | Thursday, October 18, 11:00a-12:00p |
| Location | Gold A |
| Format | Game Exhibition |
| Description | Tanzanian Trader is a game designed for Standard 7 students in Tanzania, Africa. The game helps students prepare for the standardized national exam students must take to receive their primary school certificate. The game also helps students develop their computer literacy skills.
In the game, players assume the role of a young entrepreneur building a business. To grow their business, the player must travel across Tanzania, and ultimately across the continent of Africa, trading goods, completing quests, and overcoming challenges. The game uses a unique quizzing mechanic embedded in the gameplay to cover a diverse set of curricular topics across Math, Science, and Social Studies. Teachers are able to modify what students are quizzed on, as well as change the database of questions, based on the particular students needs. The game can be played in English, the official language used in secondary education in Tanzania, or Kiswahili, the most used native language in the country. The version available online is an English prototype of what was installed on local computer systems in Tanzania. The computers (and game) were installed in remote schools as part of the ICT4D project in TISM. |