UN launches educational game about world hunger

The United Nations has released a new videogame to teach children about the problems of food distribution and global hunger.

Food Force, which available free to download for PC and Mac, focuses on the work of the World Food Programme (WFP). Last year WFP teams delivered food to more than 100 million people around the world.

The game is set on the fictional island of Sheyland which has been left devastated by war and drought. There are six missions to play through, and players are faced with tasks such as organising aerial food drops, negotiating with local rebels and using food aid to rebuild the country's economy.

Players score points for quick thinking and good decision-making. At the end of each level, a member of the Food Force team of virtual aid workers explains how the agency would have handled the situation with the help of an educational video.

"Children in the developed world don't know what it's like to go to bed threatened by starvation," said WFP communications director Neil Gallagher.

"In an exciting and dynamic form, Food Force will generate kids' interest and understanding about hunger, which kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined."

Food Force is available as a 227MB download here.