The divide between the rich and the poor in the world may seem to be getting larger in today's society, however in the virtual world it may be possible to shorten the gap considerably. World Food Programme (WFP), one of the UN bodies, has invented a video game - Food Force - to educate youngsters about hunger and the work of the aid agency.

According to the game designer Mike Harrison, the game is based in an imaginary country which is threatened by drought and civil war, the "two main reasons for famine". The aim of the game is to rebuild the country’s economy by giving food aid. The player is guided by a team of WFP characters to complete a series of missions, for example, dropping food parcels from the air. A short video explaining how the WFP would have dealt with the real situation will be shown at the end of each mission.

Game desinger Mike Harrison said to BBC, the game developer has carried out testing sessions in Rome with different age groups. The result is very satisfactory. Feedback report suggested that kids remembered 75% of the information about what WFP did.

The game Food Force will be freely avaliable later this year, either as a CD or downloadable from the internet. Initially the game, for the PC and Mac, will only be introduced in the US. As the target group is children aged between 8 and 13 years old, WFP also plans to distribute it in schools as an educational tool.

Food Force is being developed by 'Deepend', a computer design studio based in Rome, and game developers 'Playerthree' in London.