Games to make you think-- what's better than that?

You're all wondering when I'm going to come up with some good new content, right? "Oh, yeah, sure, you hosted 3 carnivals in 11 days with dozens of great links," you say. "But none of that was written by you, Penny! What do you have to say?" Oh, sure, ask me that right in the middle of the holiday season when I'm up to my ears in holiday cards and baking and shopping!

So why don't you try out this game, Third World Farmer? It falls into the "serious games" genre, but it's actually interesting and fun (when it's not depressing) and if you're lucky and good you can play for dozens and dozens of rounds. Living on the margins, never knowing what random event fate will throw at you this year, trying to figure out if you can afford to invest in infrastructure or need to stick to the basics... it's good stuff (and kind of addictive).

And then when you're done, why not read up on fair trade, since for some people it's not just a game?