Approximately 1.4 billion people live in countries that have suffered from conflict and turmoil, and it is in these countries that progress has been the hardest to achieve. Indications are that the relative importance of post-conflict countries in global poverty statistics will rise even further.

It is a major responsibility of the international community to help countries overcome conflict and fragmentation and put them back on a path of peace and freedom. This includes not only keeping the peace in times of acute conflict, but also rebuilding the institutions that can sustain the peace and prevent relapse.

The United Nations have a broad peacebuilding architecture, with peacekeeping and political missions in thirty countries or regions. In addition, the African Union and the European Union have peacebuilding missions in many conflict-zones, and international and local NGOs are aiming to build peace all over the world.

Often such peacebuilding practitioners are well steeped in their technical field of expertise, but are much less well trained in maneuvering through complex socio-political realities. The competencies involved, such as conducting solid context and conflict analysis, facilitating constructive dialogue, building coalitions for reform, are often learnt on the job. Clearly a dangerous situation, considering the inflammability of some of these contexts.

To address this challenge, a consortium of international peacebuilding institutions came together to develop and build a web-based game, which can serve as a safe space in which peace practitioners can practice their competencies in a virtual environment.