Review: Half The Sky Game Opens New Donation Possibilities Through Facebook

There’s a new game in town. The Half The Sky Movement, which works to create opportunities for women around the world, has rolled out a new Facebook game with a charitable purpose. Half The Sky Movement: The Game allows players to follow an Indian woman named Radhika on her journey through her village and then around the world, helping other women and communities. As you advance through the game, different charitable opportunities arise. At 4,500 points, for example, Johnson & Johnson makes a donation to The Fistula Foundation.

The game is simple enough for children to play, with help from parents or independently if they can read. There are choices to make, such as whether to tell a woman who is abused by her husband to go to the police and whether to keep talking about family planning or make a run for it when news angers some locals.

Radhika advances through the game by selling mangoes, getting a goat, attending classes, learning to read, and becoming an advocate for her community. Players get coins for selling kid goats, goat milk, and mangoes. Radhika also helps other women in the community by collecting seeds and goat milk for them, as well as collecting wood to build a school and nets to give out in Kenya. Players gain one unit of energy every minute, a refill to 100 with every new level, and a hope bond for every new level.

Players who want to advance quickly can buy more energy, coins, or hope bonds, with the money going to charity. Partners listed in the game include The Fistula Foundation, GEMS: Girls Educational & Mentoring Services, Heifer International, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, One, We Give Books, Room to Read, United Nations Foundation, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Girl Up, Nothing But Nets, Shot @ Life, Universal Access Project, and World Vision.

I’m only a few levels into the game, and already my energy and resources are stretched thin. It’s frustrating as a player, but a good reminder that the real-life versions of Radhika have a lot to carry. Some would say half the sky.