August 21, 2024 Library Announces Winners of Library of Congress Friends' Choice Civics Video Challenge

The Library of Congress announced today the first, second and third place winners of the Library of Congress Friends’ Choice Civics Video Challenge, whose creative entries aim to improve public knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of American citizens. Winning video contest entries will receive $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000 in cash prizes, respectively.

In 2023, with support from Friends of the Library, the Library called on video game developers to create fun and lightweight video games related to civics that incorporate Library resources. The Library chose the top three winning video games from many creative entries and is making them available to the public to play.

"We received many interesting entries to the Friends' Choice Civics Video Game Challenge, which is a testament to the creativity of the American people,” said Robert Brammer, the organizer of the challenge. “It was a difficult choice, but Duck Duty, Townsprings, and Pillars of Persuasion really stood out as games that are engaging, educational, and which incorporated Library of Congress collection materials related to civics."

The video game contest was inspired by the popular Oregon Trail computer game a teacher developed in the late 1970s. Known for being simple, educational and entertaining, the iconic game helped school children learn about 19^th century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail.

Felicia Yan’s Duck Duty, a game about the Bill of Rights, took first place. In this game, you play a duck that collects eggs containing images sourced from Library collections of what will become the Bill of Rights. The proposed amendments are submitted to the legislature to begin the process of ratification and, afterwards, players head over to the U.S. Supreme Court to test their knowledge of how some of the amendments were applied in landmark court cases.

“The Bill of Rights was written over 200 years ago, but it remains profoundly relevant today, and I thought it would be compelling to simulate what it’s like deciding landmark Supreme Court cases,” Yan said. “I chose a duck as a main character to make a fun and memorable experience.”

Nicolás Morales placed second with Townsprings, a game in which a shopkeeper moves west in light of the Homestead Act. The game lets players set prices for trading and selling goods and solve problems using civics-related concepts.

Thomas Chester and Henry Cram took third place for Pillars of Persuasion, a game focused on women’s suffrage, with players walking around various scenes in a town square seeking to convince political opponents to support voting rights for women. Scenes feature animations of Susan B. Anthony and other well-known suffragists, as well as Frederick Douglas, and include dialogue drawn from materials in the Library’s Manuscript Division.

Learn more about Friends of the Library of Congress at loc.gov/friends and join to vote in this year’s Friends’ Choice Award.

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