Anyone who’s spent any time playing games knows the call of the gaming skeptic: “Go outside, you’re wasting your life staring at a screen!” Unfortunately, they might have a point. Countless working hours are sacrificed to the Angry Birds, millions of dollars are spent on Farmville pixels, and it’s hard to save the world when you’re busy rescuing your princess from yet another castle. But what if we could take the pastime we love and turn those “wasted” hours into something wonderful? That’s the dream of Adam Archer and his company, GamesThatGive, where they take the addictiveness of social gaming and channel it towards real world charities.
Archer had the idea for GamesThatGive while backpacking around the world. During his travels, he was inspired to do something that might benefit the greater good, so he turned to his best resource: geek expertise. In 2008, GamesThatGive was born with the mission of creating Facebook games that allowed players to give money and support to charity simply by playing. Whenever someone plays a GamesThatGive game, a charity receives up to 10 cents for every minute played. Users are given the freedom of choosing who they would like to support, as well as the knowledge that they’re killing time for a good cause.
Of course, all of those good intentions don’t amount to much if nobody wants to play, so GamesThatGive works to maintain a wide selection of high-quality games for the charitable masses. “We design our games ourselves, but we like to look to the other popular games out there so we know what people will like,” Archer explains. “It’s about reaching the most people in order to do the most good.” Archer’s personal favorite is Bouncing Balls, but you’ll find versions of whatever your own time-waster of choice might be.
While GamesThatGive currently has a user base in the millions on Facebook alone, Archer believes that they can reach even more gaming givers by moving to mobile phones. “Mobile is a very attractive platformfor casual gaming,” says Archer. “Right now, if you want to play our games, you need a computer. With mobile phones, you can give on the bus or while waiting for somebody.” We get to entertain ourselves during boring situations, and worthy causes get a financial boost - everybody wins.
If you’d like to learn more about GamesThatGive, check out their website at gamesthatgive.net. Play a few games, give a few dollars, and put your clicks to good use!
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