GLOHRA, together with Playersjourney, has developed Global Health Futures, an interactive game that makes complex global health challenges tangible through gameplay.
The game puts players in the role of a Global Health Advisor and challenges them to navigate interconnected local and global health issues while balancing immediate crises with longer-term investments in prevention and research. By making strategic decisions and experiencing their consequences over time, players can explore how different priorities shape health outcomes.
Players are responsible for managing four key indicators:
- Health
- Knowledge
- Popularity
- Budget
Throughout the game, players respond to challenges such as heat waves, floods, and disease outbreaks and consider proposals from researchers, NGOs, lobbyists, and other stakeholders. They must weigh competing priorities, respond to changing circumstances, and invest in knowledge and research to unlock new options and strengthen future decision-making.
The first available scenario focuses on climate change and health in a temperate climate zone. The game is designed to be accessible to players without prior knowledge of global health, while also providing opportunities for deeper engagement with the underlying issues.
Global Health Futures is now available in English and German, in the browser and on mobile.
Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/EwTSVfa2-xA
Play the game: https://glohra.playersjourney.de/
The game can be used and shared free of charge, including in university teaching, workshops, public engagement activities, and other educational settings. We encourage educators, students, researchers, and others interested in global health to explore the game and share it with their networks.
Global Health Futures is intended as a starting point for exploring the complexity of global health decision-making and encouraging discussion about the choices, trade-offs, and consequences involved.
This is the first scenario of the game, with additional scenarios and a dedicated teaching mode planned for future development. We welcome feedback and ideas for new scenarios, topics, and features.
GLOHRA thanks Playersjourney for the collaboration in developing Global Health Futures and looks forward to seeing how the game is used across the global health community.