How food force is now a force to reckon with?

When Food Force was introduced by the UN Food Program with the intention of teaching children of the world something about global hunger, there were many who scoffed at the idea of introducing a non-violent and a seemingly boring game (from the ringside) to children who are already used to playing gory games. They thought, though the idea was noble, the game is not going to cut through any ice amongst children.

foodforce unloading

But they were wrong. Since being debuted at the children's book fair in Bologna, Italy, much to the shock and awe of many including UNFP, the game became an instant hit. Already it is the second most downloaded free game after America's Army, the US Army's recruiting tool. And all this despite it doesn't have any violent action like shooting, where you negotiate with even rebels, despite there is no oomph in graphics and the theme being to save people from dying from hunger.

Over 3,000,000 people have downloaded it so far. It is only now being translated into languages other than English and Japanese.

So what makes the game so popular and special to have been such a huge hit?

foodforce helicopter

In my opinion there are two major factors:

1. It is different from the rest of games that is available. There is no hack-n-slash, shoot and blow action. It has its own pace on how it will go. Skills such as reaching a critical mission in time does become a factor when you use your negotiation skills and patience to win over trigger happy rebels than your reflexes and nerves. Besides being non-violent it is a refreshing deviation from the usual stuff.

2. Human beings, especially children inherently are compassionate and relate to causes much easier than grown ups. However, having said that I must admit here that even the most hard-hearted ones would like to relate to a cause and be an admired hero who did something for the cause of mankind. This is where Food Force beats other games hands down. It is a matter of psychology.

What else do you think can be the other reasons? Let's not talk about breathtaking graphics and ease of gameplay.

Any ideas? We would really love to hear from you on this.

To download the game please visit the Food Force website.