Play With Your Food
One for the Mario fans. Photo: Svenja S., all rights reserved.
HGR. Most of us have contracted it at some point in our lives, or at least knows someone who has. In fact, you may be suffering the symptoms right now.
Let me know if any of this sounds familiar…
You finally finish that epic RPG you imported from Japan, or unlock all the secret characters in that arcade fighter you got for Christmas. Maybe you garner yourself 3 gold stars on every level of every version of Angry Birds. My deepest, most heartfelt congratulations. You have indeed earned my respect.
But my admiration is not enough. No, not for you. Not with that gaping, satisfaction-shaped hole inside your soul. Not when you realise that your very youth has been slipping away between sweat-drenched, controller-wielding fingers. For, now that you have officially passed the halfway mark of your summer holiday, you look back and only feel… regret. No, worse. Remorse.
It's like GTA, but with less guns and more radishes. Photo: Lawrence Whittemore, all rights reserved.
‘Holiday Gaming Remorse’, to be precise.
‘HGR' is a serious condition affecting young gamers across the globe. Unfortunately, there is no known cure. However, we have uncovered one of the most powerful tools for sufferers of HGR on the road to recovery. While it can’t restore your lost time (or send you back in time to advise your past self) it can reignite your self-worth, unzombiefy your brain and empower you to change the world – without making you give up the keyboard. Without further ado, we present Freerice.com.
Freerice, part of the UN’s World Food Program, is a website where you can simultaneously train your brain and end hunger. Every time you tackle a question on languages, math, geography, chemistry or the humanities, 10 grains of rice are donated to needy communities around the world. Sure, there are a few ads but, in a world where 1 in 7 people go to bed hungry (yep, one billion people), that’s a small price to pay. Plus, when the IQ-enriching nature of the webgame is combined with the fact that you are fighting poverty, it is actually impossible to feel the effects of HGR! How can you regret becoming smarter or feeding the hungry? That’s right, you can’t. Boom. HGR resolved. In fact, you can even employ Freerice when you get back to uni/school to combat PEAGR (Pre-Exam/Assignment Gaming Regret). It’s brilliant!
1 billion people going to bed hungry. And you can help! Photo: Mr. Kris, all rights reserved.
With a million registered users as of last Thursday, Freerice has donated almost 100 billion grains of rice to the world's hungry. According to the UN, that's more than enough to feed five million people for a day. So what are you waiting for? Bring peace to the bird/pig populations, throw out your Wii-mote, stop conversing with dubiously disabled guards and use your mouse to make a difference!
