Jennifer Ann's Group @jag
Jennifer Ann's Group is a nonprofit charity. We believe in the power of video games to create positive change in the world. Since 2008, we have been producing compelling games that engage, educate, and empower video game players through an annual game design challenge.
Our Gaming Against Violence program is an award-winning and research-based approach to violence prevention. The program was selected as a Top-50 nonprofit program in the U.S.
COMMUNICATION
The 2025 theme was communication. The winning games were announced September 27th. Here is the press release with information about the winning communication games. Visit the communicating.games website to learn more about #communication.
Time to Explain is a winning puzzle game from the contest. This clever game was created by falafelovore in France! Play it now in your browser.
SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS
The 2024 theme was social connectedness. Visit the connecting.games website to learn more about #connectedness.
The winning connectedness game was Open Worlds Play by Sunny Chen. Play Open Worlds Play now in your browser!
CRITICAL THINKING GAMES
The 2023 theme was critical thinking. Visit the criticalthinker.games website for links to the critical thinking games and to learn more about #criticalthinking.
The published critical thinking games are MushWhom? and Figure it Sprout.
RESILIENCE GAMES
The 2022 theme was resilience. Visit the resilient.games website for links to the resilience games and to learn more about #resilience.
The winning resilience game was One New Message by Eloise Best. It is a featured PBS resource about resilience. Play it in your browser on GameJolt.
POWER & CONTROL GAMES
The 2021 theme was Power & Control. Also, instead of digital games for 2021 we challenged game designers to create "analog" games (tabletop or card games).
The winning game from our Power & Control challenge was 'The Big Build Up' by Lien Tran & Lynn Baus.
CULTURE GAMES
The 2020 Life. Love. Game Design Challenge theme was CULTURE.
The winning games:
Culture Overlord from Lucas Vially, France (Games for Change Awards Nominee)
Sea of Roses from Crescent Tea Studios, Portugal
A Thousand Cuts from Elizabeth Ballou, USA
GASLIGHTING GAMES
The 2019 Life. Love. Game Design Challenge theme was GASLIGHTING.
The winning games:
'Last Shred of Reality' from Another Kind, Belgium
Lamplight Hollow from Luciano Sgarbi, UK
LED Gaslight from Naomi Norbez, USA
'Gaslighting Under the Sea' from Sam Schneider, USA
BYSTANDER GAMES
The 2018 Life. Love. Game Design Challenge theme was BYSTANDERS. These games are now available in beta: Citizen Witch and Step Up.
CONSENT GAMES
The 2017 Consent Game Series includes a wide variety of games about consent. The consent games published in this series are:
ADRIFT from Quinn Crossley and Andrew Connell, USA
Crossing Boundaries from Testudo Games, UK
How to Blorrble-Blobble from Jared Sain, USA
Stuck in a Dark Place from Another Kind, Belgium
Note: not all of the consent games are appropriate for all ages.
Rispek Danis is a video game based on How to Blorrble-Blobble and developed collaboratively between World Vision Vanuatu and Jennifer Ann's Group to produce a culturally relevant video game intended to teach young people in Vanuatu about the meaning and importance of consent. This was a Games for Change Awards Finalist for Most Significant Impact!
TEEN DATING VIOLENCE PREVENTION &
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP GAMES
Jennifer Ann's Group has produced dozens of video games to help young people recognize the warning signs of abusive relationships. Games include Grace's Diary and HONEYMOON. More games about healthy relationships are available at Jennifer Ann's Group's game portal.
MORE INFO
For more information about Jennifer Ann's Group and Gaming Against Violence:
Program: GamingAgainstViolence.com
Website: JenniferAnn.org
Game Portal: JAGga.me
Program Profile: Gaming Against Violence: A Grassroots Approach to Stop Teen Dating Violence
GDC Presentation: Gaming Against Violence: Using Video Games to Stop Teen Dating Violence
Published Research: Gaming Against Violence: An Exploratory Evaluation of the Efficacy of Persuasive Digital Games in Improving Unhealthy Relationship Attitudes of Unguided Players
