The North-West University (NWU) has launched a new educational card game called Prosper to celebrate World IP Day in 2024. The game is all about using intellectual property (IP) to teach people about the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Prosper was created by the Bunt brothers (Dr Byron Bunt and Dr Lance Bunt), who work at the university. It is meant for teachers to use with learners and students aged 10 to 22. The game presents different challenges relating to making society better. Players discuss and choose solutions from cards they hold. These solution cards are see-through, so when you put them on top of the problem cards, they complete the picture.
The Bunt brothers are not new to creating educational games. The elder brother, Byron, is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education, where he focuses on play-based, self-directed learning for History Education, and forms part of the UNESCO Chair in Multimodal Learning and Open Educational Resources. Lance is a lecturer in Computer Science and Information Systems and is also a qualified graphic designer. The two brothers have been avid gamers their whole lives, and produced their first educational game, Dogs of War, in 2023. It covers the history of World War II in a gamified way, using playing cards that depict the main characters of the war as dog caricatures. The game is currently undergoing testing in class settings at the NWU.
Prosper is a community engagement contribution by the brothers to the education fraternity at large. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals form the core of their joint projects, and especially of Byron’s work under the UNESCO Chair. Prosper will soon be available for downloading on the websites Merlot and OER Africa. This means teachers across the world have immediate access to it for downloading, printing and deployment.
The brothers are working with partners in Europe to create a digital version, which will also be available for free use under a Creative Commons licence. In addition, they are teaming up with the NWU Business School to create a commercial version aimed at management and leadership training.
"It is our humble contribution to getting the SDGs into education, and top of mind for tomorrow’s problem solvers," say the Bunt brothers, expressing their motivation behind the development of Prosper.
Their efforts have earned them a nomination to the World Intellectual Property Day Changemakers’ Gallery. This gallery features innovators, creators, entrepreneurs and IP practitioners who are using IP rights to accelerate the innovation and creativity we need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and build our common future.
Dr Byron Bunt and Dr Lance Bunt
Prosper solution card
Prosper problem card back
Prosper box sleeve 2
