I’m not sure how the video game industry ranks when compared with other forms of entertainment, but when it comes to charity and giving back I’m proud of all the work being done out there by gamers at large. (Admittedly, not a lot of it being done by me. Bad me.)

From Child’s Play to the dozens of game-a-thons and events that happen throughout the year, gamers do a good job of giving back. By no means do I want to trivialize or diminish these great deeds, but one thing really blew me away this year – the story of Owain’s Wish and the wonderful people at PopCap who made ­it ­happen.

This 10-year old boy was introduced to PopCap through the Make-A-Wish foundation after being diagnosed with pre-B acute lymphocytic leukemia in 2010. Owain’s wish was to make a video game.

I don’t know what you were like when you were 10, but I vividly remember taking pen to paper and designing my own games. Sitting and wondering what could be was almost as fun as the ­games ­themselves.

PopCap gave Owain his chance to come in and tell them about his game, as his father had told them, “What he really wanted was to hang out with ‘real game designers.’”

Little did they know what was to come. In their own words, the PopCap team was “blown away when he came with a PowerPoint presentation and basically walked them through the game.” The following is an excerpt from PopCap’s ­own ­site.

“Here’s how his first slide began: ‘You are a military genius who has just been released from cryo-sleep. Your brilliance in the Lunar War convinced the A.S.P. (Allied Star Police) to put you in cryogenic slumber, just in case WWIII showed up. It’s not exactly WORLD war three, more Galactic War one...’

Owain described his game in detail as he went through each slide. He had mapped out pretty much everything; storyline, unit types, firepower, shields, respawn times. We were blown away. Clearly, Owain was not your average ­fourth ­grader.”

Owain is far from average indeed. This story hit home on so many levels – from challenges with leukemia within my own family, to my dreams as a kid – and it all culminates in the ultimate power of video games to heal and make the world a better place. Kudos to PopCap for doing something amazing, and here’s to Owain for Allied Star Police.

The game is out on iOS now, and it’s fantastic. But the story is even better. As of this writing Owain was being discharged, which is the best news of all.

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