AMD Changing the Game 

AMD Changing the Game is AMD’s signature education program. The initiative, which is run by the AMD Foundation, enables teens to learn critical STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills and become more globally conscious citizens by developing digital video games with social content.

Gaming, Beyond Entertainment

Gaming isn’t just about entertainment anymore.

Developers — including high school students — are now creating games designed both to educate and engage people of all ages on pressing social issues.

Global concerns such as energy, the environment, poverty, hunger and climate change have already been addressed in games that help players understand the complexities involved and explore creative solutions.

As a direct extension of our mission to constantly innovate, AMD is proud to help advance this movement of evolving digital games into powerful tools for improving our world.

Harness the Power, Learn Life Skills

Activate! is an interactive Web site primarily targeted for children ages 13-15 that enables kids to easily design and program video games. Activate! was created by PETLab and funded by a $77,000 AMD Foundation  grant in support of AMD Changing the Game.

Activate! contains tutorials for making games, example games for users to play, and will feature a gallery of user-generated games. Activate! leverages the publicly available Game Maker software program to help create the games. Depending on local laws, users will also be able to upload their completed games to the Activate! site.

The Activate! online activities are designed and presented in the form of “challenges” rather than traditional lessons. Each challenge corresponds with a current socially-conscious theme and some challenges may link to special global and social events. The Activate! challenge modules will measurably enhance the following competencies among youth participants:

  • Familiarity with game design elements, such as graphics, sound, narrative, rules, programming and play
  • Familiarity using specialized design and programming software such as Game Maker
  • Ability to engage in design-based processes, including problem-solving, sketching, prototyping, testing and modifying
  • Understanding of cause-and-effect relationships within different gaming environments
  • Experience applying programming and procedural logic to game structures and behavior, and applying mathematics to character movement
  • Teamwork and collaboration skills within a creative atmosphere
  • Awareness about the pressing social issues embedded in various game-based activities

The Activate! Web site is currently being translated into Mandarin and also will be deployed on the intranet of the not-for-profit Dandelion Middle School in Beijing later this summer. A month-long game development workshop

AMD Changing the Game, an initiative of the AMD Foundation, is designed to help youth at the middle and high school level harness the power of digital games with social content, while learning critical education and life skills. Through the process of developing and playing their own issue-themed games, AMD Changing the Game participants can develop essential skills in science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM skills.

At the same time, students will explore critical thinking, problem solving, project leadership, and contemporary themes of social responsibility. Attention to these critical developmental areas will in turn help participants expand their future educational and professional opportunities as citizens of the 21st Century.

Additional Resources

Harness the Power, Learn Life Skills
Designed to help youth at the high school level harness the power of digital games with social content, while learning critical education and life skills.