IBM launches new, free, MMO

PowerUP is the newest Massive Multi-player Online game to hit the internet. This free game was launched in mid-February by IBM and challenges players to save a planet from ecological disaster. This MMO is part of the company’s educational initiative.

The game took almost a year and a half to be developed with the help from teenagers at the Connecticut Innovation Academy. The TryScience team at the New York Hall of Science worked with The Tech Museum in San Jose, California and the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the activities and game content.

There are currently nine missions to solve by solo players or teams. The game is accompanied by classroom lesson plans associated with the topics presented in the online experience, and also includes an interactive module to educate kids on 3D technologies used in virtual world building.

Don’t let the fact that the term “educational” keeps getting throw into the descriptions of this game. The handful of youth that I talked to who have played the game state that it is fun and challenging. By virtue of using phase based communication in game between platers, the safety aspect of the game is a little higher than many other MMO’s.

More information about the game can be found at powerupthegame.org