Gamers take to UN food drop video

The world's first humanitarian video game-- a United Nations-produced virtual world of planes launching food airdrops over crisis zones and emergency trucks struggling up treacherous roads under rebel threat-- is extending its potential audience by tens of millions of people.

Already available in English, Japanese, Italian and Polish, Food Force will now be accessible in French, Hungarian and Chinese by the end of next week.

This will vastly increase the forum for the UN World Food Programme's design to teach youngsters about the problems of global hunger and what humanitarian organisations do to fight it.

The English, Japanese, Italian and Polish versions, which were launched over the past 18 months, have totaled over 4.5 million downloads to date, making Food Force a major success story in the educational gaming sector.

"Food Force is clear evidence that with the right medium, an issue as invisible and distant as hunger in the developing world can trigger interest and support in countries where too much food is the high profile problem today," WFP's director of communications Neil Gallagher said of the free download, which is targeted at children aged 8 to 13.

"Positive reactions from children, teachers, parents, game specialists around the world have surpassed all our expectations. We are thrilled that Food Force has crossed so many borders," he added.

Gamers face a number of realistic challenges to urgently feed thousands of people on the fictitious island of Sheylan, piloting helicopters on reconnaissance missions, negotiating with armed rebels on convoy runs and using food to help rebuild villages.