3rd World Farmer is a turn-based digital game that simulates some of the real-world mechanisms that cause and sustain poverty in 3rd World countries.
In the game, the player manages a rural family-run farm, and is soon confronted with the difficult choices that poverty and conflict can cause. The main objectives are management of the family as well as growing and selling crops and livestock, which eventually will enable the player to invest in projects that will improve the farm and the local area. The game is won when all projects have been accomplished.
However, all it takes for things to go wrong in this game is one bad harvest, an unfortunate encounter with corrupt officials, a raid by guerillas, a civil war, a sudden fluctuation in market prices, or any of the many other game events, that might never happen to families in industrialized countries.
The game is a good setup for class discussions on poverty and societal structures.
Click here to go to game site.
| Since Adobe's Flash Player is discontinued as of January 2020, the game can no longer be played in a web browser. A mobile app is available for a small fee. Please follow the link on the resource's homepage. |