Representatives from “A Better World” presenting their donation representatives from “Operation Warm.”


By Adam Farence, Daily Local News

WAYNE >> A local family who developed a Facebook game encouraging good habits and behavior presented a $5,000 check late last month to the Chadds Ford-based “Operation Warm” to help the organization purchase winter coats for kids in need.

The game, titled “A Better World,” is accessible to Facebook users and encourages players to do good things, such as give each other compliments, to encourage positive behavior. Players in the game even have the option of sending get well letters to kids undergoing hospital treatment around the world, said CEO Ray Hansell.

“It’s gaming for good causes,” he said.

Hansell and other owners of the game set a goal for the players — to perform one million good deeds in the game. If the players did, the organization and its partners would donate money to support Operation Warm.

Operation Warm’s goal is to provide winter coats for children in need, and according to Marketing Director Brock Clauser, the donation was much appreciated.

“Operation Warm is so grateful to have a partner like A Better World that believes in our mission to provide brand new winter coats to children in need,” he wrote in a prepared statement. “New coats not only help keep them warm, but increase their self esteem [sic] and reassure them that they are of value. It’s rare to find an organization like A Better World that at its core is so focused on doing good and making the world a better place. The partnership is a natural fit.”

Hansell said the players finished performing one million good deeds as the Winter Storm Jonas hit the east coast.

“This historic storm really drove home how high the stakes are for these kids in need,” he wrote in a prepared statement. “It’s our honor to help by harnessing the goodwill of our players to support this timely cause,” he said.

Officials said the donation would provide around 250 new coast of kids in need.

“We crossed the million good deed threshold just as the 2016 blizzard hit the east coast. This historic storm really drove home how high the stakes are for these kids in need. It’s our honor to help by harnessing the goodwill of our players to support this timely cause,” said A Better World CEO, Ray Hansell.

Read the full article here: Daily Local News

January 18, 2016

What if you could play games to put brand new winter coats on kids? Learn how one company made giving a gift of warmth to children even more fun.

I really want that blue and green Under the Sea Set fishbowl table for my new apartment. It would go perfectly with my Cozy Sofa and my new blue shoes. In order to earn the gold I need, I am headed out to do some good. That is the premise of A Better World, a popular Facebook game that rewards players for making the real world a better place. Welcome to social good gaming, where the actions you take as you play your favorite games can make a a difference in the real world.

“You are doing good deals in the real and the virtual world and you are being rewarded for the good deeds that you do,” says Ray Hansell, the CEO of  A Better World, which was founded by Hansell and his partners six years ago, after a family visit to a virtual good summit. “Frankly, I am more proud of this than anything we have ever done. This world is really unique; it is really special,” he says.

A Better World Neighborhood

Players can do good deeds in real life, such as volunteering at a homeless shelter or helping a family member, and they can encourage and support otherplayers in game. These actions are rewarded with “Do Good Gold” that can then be used for in-game purchases of fun fashion, home decor, pets and other gaming accessories that enhance the play experience. Each time they submit a deed, players also receive an encouraging quote about doing good.

When good deeds are recorded in the game, generous sponsors reward those deeds with monetary contributions that are used to further real life missions, such as supporting Operation Warm and Coats for Kids. The game encourages people, especially younger gamers, to make a difference in the real world with their own actions, which in turn  supports missions that can make a national impact.

There is no doubt that doing good can be contagious. “People should be doing more and telling people what they are doing,” Hansell says. “It is a very positive and uplifting experience.”

A Better World and its’s sponsors have chosen to support Operation Warm, and the mission to provide brand new winter coats to kids. As you know, these coats keep children warm, enhance self esteem and give them a better start in life. “Operation warm is very indicative of our mission to improve the world, and we are happy to help,” Hansell says.

Hansell and the A Better World Team have set a goal of one million good deeds for Operation Warm through January 31, which could provide up to 1,000 brand new winter coats, Hansell says.

A Better World is offering Operation Warm supporters and players an additional gift. Now through January 31, 2016, A Better World is 100% free to play. The only currency accepted is acts of kindness and other social good you can do in game. After January 31st, the game reverts back to a freemium model. The game will still be able to be played for free, but extra enhancements will require a purchase.

Read the full blog post here: Operation Warm Blog

BY BRANDON BAKER
PhillyVoice Staff

Company donating coats to kids for 'good deeds' in game

A screenshot from the Wayne, Pa.- developed Facebook game, "A Better World."

Video games aren't all deathmatches and finish lines.

Wayne, Delaware County-based social enterprise A Better World is attempting to shake up the image of video games as strictly for entertainment by incentivizing players of its Facebook-based, life-simulator game to do good deeds -- both in-game and in the real world.

“What we do is cross the divide between this imaginary world by bringing in real world good deeds, getting people to report them," co-founder Raymond Hansell told PhillyVoice. "It's a virtual world game not unlike CityVille orFarmVille, the big differentiation being that instead of buying virtual cows and chickens and swapping them with your neighbors, in this virtual world what you’re doing is doing good deeds."

Here's how it works: Users report real-world good deeds that are voted up or down by other users, and "hopes, dreams and gratitudes" are expressed are tallied through the game's interface as virtual good deeds. Those good deeds can then be used as currency to shop for clothing and furniture; through Jan. 1, it's the only form of currency that will be accepted.

Read the full article here: PhillyVoice - Wayne-based social enterprise pushes gaming with a cause

by Caitlin McKay, Media Relations Manager & BetterWorldians Radio Producer

Hello BetterWorldians and Friends!

I wanted to let you know about a great interview on Knowledge@Wharton, featuring our father and son duo Ray Hansell (CEO) and Gregory Hansell (Chief Product Officer). Knowledge@Wharton is a daily show on SiriusXM channel 111 – Business Radio Powered by The Wharton School.

Ray and Greg shared some great information about our Indiegogo campaign for A Better World for Kids and you can listen in by clicking here. Host Dan Loney asked some great questions about the inspiration behind A Better World for Kids, and a peek behind the scenes.

We still need your help to make this important campaign a success! Here are some things you can do to help:

  1. Tell your friends about our campaign by copy and pasting this link on Facebook/Twitter or even text/email: http://igg.me/at/ABetterWorldforKids
  2. Consider talking to your place of work about becoming a Corporate Sponsor. It’s a great time of year to give back!
  3. Do you have any friends in the media? Share our story with your contacts and put us in touch.



By Melony Roy

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A company on the Main Line has created a mobile game for children that teaches kindness, helpfulness, and ways to do good — but they need your help fund the project. They’ve launched a new crowdfunding campaign that starts today.


A Better World for Kids is a kid friendly spin-off of the “do good” Facebook game A Better World that rewards users with points for completing good deeds.

“The kind of things we focus on are things like being kind, gift giving, being thankful,” says Gregg Hansell from digital content company, A Better World, based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, “but also more contemporary concerns like anti-bullying, healthy eating, and even caring for the world through things like recycling and community gardening.”