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Bandura Games has been written about in the following publications:
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"Justin Hefter wants to change the world through games. He hopes to create lasting peace one relationship at a time, mainly by getting people from different cultures to play games with each other" - VentureBeat
"Bandura Games is a small studio with big ambitions." - GameIndustry.Biz
"That desire to make the world a better place obviously plays a big part in taking a role at a company like Bandura Games, and [Randy] Angle is enthused by the difference he can make in his new role." - PocketGamer
"RunZoo might turn out to be more than just a game." - CNET
"We’re not talking small potatoes here" - Tech.co
"With smartphones now just as powerful as many video game consoles, it's no wonder there are more games and more players out there than ever before. In fact, ABC7 News found out, it's a pastime that's become so universal some think it could even bring about world peace." - ABC7 News
"There are places in the world where hatred hangs in the air, like floating motes. It is breathed in and it is breathed out. It is borne aloft by suspicion and distrust of the other... Justin Hefter has been working to establish empathy between people since his days as a student at Stanford, where he organized a social group designed to increase understanding between Muslim and Jewish students." - Polygon
"For conflicts where “othering” and alienation is the norm, an experience that establishes a fellow player as a human being and potential partner could lay the foundation for further peacebuilding action." - PeaceTech Lab
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Our mission is to use cooperative games as a way to create connections, empathy and friendships for people around the world.
Bandura Games was founded by an American, Israeli and Palestinian team. We’ve since grown to over 10 people. We are 40% women. We are Jewish, Muslim and Christian. We are black, white and brown. We are gay and straight. We are the change we want to see in the world.
Fun should have no borders, so join us in our campaign to have #FunWithoutBorders!
People in Different Countries Around The World Can Play RunZoo Together
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Most social networks and games allow people to play and connect with people they already know. Our games connect people with players from around the world.
For every $5 that you donate, we can reach 1 more person and create 1 new connection through our game!
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The more that we raise, the more friendships we can help create for people around the world!
By pairing people who would never otherwise interact, we are allowing our players to create diverse friend networks.
Because our games are cooperative, meaning that players play on the same team, they start to develop trust with one another. Players quickly learn that they are able to cooperate and develop relationships with people from countries and cultures that they have never experienced before.
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In our game RunZoo, you play an animal who is escaping the zoo, and running to a tropical paradise where the animal kingdom lives in peace and harmony. In order to make it without being caught, you need to partner with your other animal friends (real players from around the world). You and your partner have to work together in order to be more successful and you are encouraged to share resources, complete joint missions, and save each other's lives.
Only after you successfully partner with someone do you then get to learn who they are, where they are playing from, and what you both have in common. You have the opportunity to add that person as a friend in our game and receive +100 extra coins for doing so!RunZoo let's players learn about what they have in common with one another so they are more likely to want to play together again and develop friendships.
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Players work together and save each other's lives in the game. ![]()
The cooperative nature of our game increases the likelihood that players will develop the trust that can form the basis of a friendship.
New Character Accessories
Also check out the Image Gallery for more Critter concept art
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Justin is our American CEO/co-founder and fearless leader. He's a Stanford graduate with experience in business/conflict-resolution and it's his life mission to bring people together! He traveled to Israel to see how he could use games to bring Israeli and Palestinian kids together, met Etay and Ammoun, and discovered that games could connect the Whole World. |
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Etay is our Israeli co-founder of Bandura Games and is a hardcore gamer. He met some of his best friends playing online games, and believes that games have the power to create global friendships. He even brought his good friend Ammoun onto the team, who he met on a peace program in Germany.
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Ammoun is our Palestinian co-founder of Bandura Games and loves working with kids. Her secret talent is getting rowdy classrooms to respect her enough so that she can teach them valuable lessons. She believes games have the power to teach important lessons to kids around the world. |
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Randy is the Chief Creative Officer at Bandura Games. He's been making games for 35-years and once wrote a college paper about how video games changed his life. While he almost joined NASA, through games he's been able to experience more interesting planets than the moon, and believes that through games we can make real life on planet Earth better as well.
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Elizabeth is our PR guru and emissary to the rest of the world. She has several decades of video game marketing and branding experience and has seen the power of games to improve people's lives. She helped promote the Lion King video game to great success and is a big cat lover!
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Veronica is our social media expert and community manager. If you've seen our Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, they look amazing because of her! She's got a great wit, and charm and is speaking at TEDx UF in 2016! Send us a comment on social media and it's likely she's the one who will respond.
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Aubrey is our head artist and a renowned animal lover. Her love of animals shines through in her artwork, which is featured heavily on our Indiegogo page and will soon be in our game thanks to your contributions! She lives with 6 animal companions: 2 dogs, 3 cats, and an African Grey Parrot. |
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Eric is our video game engineer working on programming the new features we need to make RunZoo awesome. He's a former student of Randy's and it's a dream to have him as part of our team. He's a SCUBA diver and friend of many fish.
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Binex Solutions is our excellent technology partners in Pakistan, extending our global reach. They collectively have over 30 years of experience creating video games and have published over 200 mobile games and apps on all major platforms such as iOS, Android and Kindle. |
Our Team's Video Game Experience: Our team collectively has over 100 years of game design, programming, production and marketing experience. Randy Angle, our Chief Creative Officer alone has worked on over 100 games and toys that have earned over $500M and have been played by 250 million people. Our team has worked on many global successes.
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Major Titles include:
Star Trek: Next Generation, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Pac-Man (mobile), Ms. Pac-Man (mobile), Deal or No Deal (mobile), 1 vs. 100 (mobile), Dig Dug (mobile), Galaga (mobile),Command and Conquer, The Lion King, Army Men, The Sims, FunChat; F.A.S.T (mobile)
to name a few…
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