Bandura Games Launches Crowdfunding Campaign for Cooperative Games Designed to Build Empathy & Understanding
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Bandura Games, the independent game studio start-up that makes cooperative multiplayer mobile games to create empathy and connect people across conflict zones, today kicked off an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for its first game, RunZoo. With its #FunWithoutBorders campaign and initial minimum goal of $37,000, Bandura hopes to complete the game and rally support for its mission to change the world, one player at a time.
“Games are so powerful in terms of their universal appeal, and ability to bring people together,” said Justin Hefter, CEO and co-founder of Bandura Games. “Studies have shown that cooperative play and working together creates strong bonds that can last a lifetime. Our team bonded over our love of games, and it occurred to us that with billions of players on smartphones and tablets, we could use broadly popular mobile game mechanics to bring people together who might not otherwise have an opportunity to interact.”
A Stanford graduate experienced in business strategy and conflict resolution, Hefter co-founded Bandura Games along with Israeli entrepreneur Etay Furman, and Palestinian teacher Ammoun Dissi. The team worked with Israeli and Palestinian schools to test a cooperative-play prototype of their game with more than 100 Israeli and Palestinian youth. Their findings showed that more than 80 percent of players preferred cooperative play to single-player games, and many players expressed a desire to cooperate with other youth from countries around the world. Players reported feeling empowered and a greater sense of self-worth because their partners cared about their success in the game.
Building upon the endless runner – the most universally popular mobile game genre – RunZoo has been designed with proprietary player matching features that connect players around the world according to their shared interests. More information is revealed as players complete games, share resources and work together toward common goals, ultimately building bonds and understanding in the process.
“We believe that great things can happen when you bring people of different backgrounds together over a common goal – so much so that we’ve built our diverse and global team using that philosophy,” continued Hefter. “We believe that you should be the change you want to see in the world and, as such, we’ve pulled together talent that crosses regional, racial, religious, and gender backgrounds. Our team includes experts in game development, community-building, conflict resolution and education. This broad range of experiences and perspectives represents a microcosm of the world today, and provides the necessary insight to bring about more global understanding.”
Take a look at the Fun Without Borders video:
RunZoo is expected to soft launch late this year, and be widely available for iOS and Android phones and tablets by summer, 2016. The #FunWithoutBorders campaign can be supported by visiting Indiegogo.
About Bandura Games:
Bandura Games builds cooperative multiplayer mobile games that create empathy and connections for people of different backgrounds from around the world. Based in San Francisco, Bandura Games has a diverse and international team that believes that by creating fun and shared experiences, they can help players overcome the social barriers that so frequently keep people divided.
Source: Press Release
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