West Philadelphia teen creates board game focused on solving world hunger

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A West Philadelphia teenager has created a cooperative board game aimed at teaching players about world hunger and encouraging them to take the issue seriously.

Fifteen-year-old Ian Garner designed the game, called "Feed the World," in which up to six players work together to address global hunger rather than compete against one another.

"The game is called Feed the World. It's a six-player cooperative game, so you work together instead of going against each other, and the game was about solving world hunger," Garner said.

In the game, players take on professions such as politician, engineer or celebrity. They use their character's abilities, along with game pieces, including factories and currency tokens, to advance their mission.

During each turn, players draw cards that can either help or hinder their progress.

The cards also include facts related to issues depicted in the game. One card, for example, states: "500,000 U.S. Workers strike annually."

Garner said his inspiration came in part from the work of the nonprofit Level Up.

"I wanted to do this because Level Up feeds over a thousand kids a day with just food, and also I thought that world hunger was just like a very serious topic that people don't take seriously sometimes make jokes about," he said.

Garner developed the game at Level Up's STEM lab.

Founder Aaron Campbell said students at the nonprofit can explore topics that interest them through the lab's programs.

"Any kid at Level Up can come into our STEM lab, and we have a three-page questionnaire of what they would like to learn about, particularly what they're not learning about in school," Campbell said.

Some of the board game pieces were produced at the nonprofit using a 3D printer, according to Campbell.

The game has also been showcased beyond the STEM lab.

"This game has been to 7th Dimension in Jenkintown, which is a big gaming hub," Campbell said. "We've also taken it to the Nassio National Conference. Top executives played it and looked at it from IBM, Apple, Deloitte."

Garner said he hopes players leave the game with a greater understanding of the issue it addresses.

"Knowledge about how, like world hunger is just such a big problem in the world," he said, adding that he hopes people will "stop taking it like not seriously and making jokes about it."

Garner is hoping to have the game available for purchase in the coming months.