Gaming for Good with Free Rice

More than 1 million people have signed up to an online trivia game where rice is donated to the hungry people around the world for each correct answer.

On Freerice.com, players face increasingly difficult vocabulary questions and for every correct answer, 10 grains of rice is donated to the World Food Program (WFP) - paid for by sponsored banners on the site.

The game was launched in 2007, and within a month it had raised enough rice to feed over 50,000 people for a day. It recently passed the milestone of having 1 million registered players.

"When one million people each do their small part, the collective effect is beyond impressive -- it's extraordinary," said Nancy Roman, WFP’s Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships.

The game reaches an estimated 1.3 million players per month and has raised almost 100 billion grains of rice, enough to feed five million people for a day in countries in need of food aid, according to the UN.

The online game also allows players to choose from 45,000 questions in various subjects, including flags of the world and literature, and in six languages – English, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.

“Beyond the remarkable benefits for those most in need, this is a significant milestone for WFP in our mission to engage millions of people online in the fight against hunger,” Roman added.

So, if you haven’t got anything better to do (and what’s better than donating rice to hungry people around the world?), or just need a few brain exercises, play Free Rice here.