With funding through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) CARES Grant program, Lives in Balance was designed by iThrive Games and the masterminds behind the Situation Room Experience at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. The multiplayer, tech-powered simulation game launched in 2020 as one of three simulation games designed to support impactful civic learning in teens. Hosted on the iThrive Sim platform, Lives in Balance invites teens to act as government officials who must make individual and group decisions during a fictional pandemic. The game prompts players to explore the limits of federalism and state rights as they activate and nurture their social and emotional skills, collaborate, strategize, and wrestle with the tension between reopening the economy and following health guidelines. In addition to designing the game, iThrive also headed the development of accompanying C3-standards aligned lesson plans and social and emotional learning activities to support a comprehensive and impactful learning experience.
