Game For Change

Play the Game

“If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.” — Bertrand Russell, Roads to Freedom

With this project I wanted to explore problems with news coverage in the media and the problems a typical viewer faces in trying to discern facts and arrive at his own conclusions about world issues and current events. It’s something that I personally struggle with and that I thought must be a problem for many others whether they are aware of it or not. It was an issue on my mind even before I watched the TED talk “The Danger of a Single Story” from this week, which just served to reinforce the importance of seeking out multiple perspectives as we form our opinions.

Originally my idea for the project was to take on the perspective of a news anchor. The character would have to choose top stories to air of a period of time, with pressure from the network, and over time the game would show how the decisions affected income and popularity. ButI quickly realized that my idea was a bit ambitious for the limited time and recourses I had. So instead I decided the player could just run around and kill things. 

As the player professes through the levels he tries to overcome some of the issues that I researched, like media bias, sensationalist journalism, and echo chamber effect. Despite being a very simple game, I tried to model the various stages to reflect these kinds of problems. I had never considered video games as a feasible medium for promoting social change until I played Half the Game this last week. It’s obviously unique in being an interactive virtual experience and can potentially be one of the most powerful ways to put a player in the perspective of another human being. Playing a video game may not do any direct good, but it can educate, offer alternate perspectives to an issue, and encourage players to take real-world steps. This week’s project made me more aware of the possibilities in media of creating positive changes in our society.