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Some decent buzz on the Internet this week about the New York Times’ recent interactive “You Fix the Budget” game. I found the game interesting (and yes, I fixed the budget), but somewhat dry. Part of the reason for that is I was familiar with a previous budget-balancing game called “Budget Hero,” introduced in 2008 by American Public Media’s “Marketplace.” #

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“Budget Hero” has more movement, more explanatory details when you make selections, and even some cheesy sound effects. And it has a storyline, which sells it as a game, in my opinion. “You Fix the Budget” feels like a Sunday Crossword, which may be the intended effect. #

But this got me to thinking: Do people have a preference when it comes to games as journalistic explanation? Is the “Budget Hero” better than “You Fix the Budget”? #

I’m sure there is a certain amount of “different strokes for different folks” involved, and I can’t imagine this: #

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showing up on the NYT web site. #

Still, I’m curious which method of gaming does a better job of illustrating the challenges involved in the budget process. Any thoughts? #

And as long as we’re mentioning games related to the news, APM has a new “game” called Future-Jobs-O-Matic that might be worth mentioning for college media audiences. #

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And there are a wealth of related topical games linked at gamesforchange.org. I like the idea behind Free Rice, a definition game that adds rice grains to your total that are then donated to a hunger charity. Strengthen your vocabulary while helping out with world hunger. #

(Future-Jobs-Orama link found via Nieman Labs) #

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