Our class have been discussing the empathy and bias theme through the past couple of weeks, but since discussions are never enough; the Dr. asked us to engage in online games which put the players in certain situations and make them take decisions upon these situations. The good thing about these games is that they give an opportunity to the player to live someone’s story; therefore, they will help people to understand how crucial some cases are and try to make a change by helping others. However, the thing I didn’t like about these games is that they offer limited choices and they don’t give the player a chance to make his/her own choices. I personally thought that if I have ever been in one of the games’ scenarios, I would react differently from the choices they provided. For instance, in the first game I have tried called Spent, I was given a situation where my pet needed treatment and I had to choose between either paying for the expensive treatment or letting my pet suffer. In reality if I went through such case, I would giveaway my pet to any caring friend or animal association who would give my pet needed care and treatment. Especially if I am responsible for my family as I were in the game, then I will be taking decisions giving priority to my children’s needs. Although I got bothered from the limited choices given by the game, still I enjoyed playing it and I felt like I am living real life situation where I had to make best use of my salary in order to make it to the end of the month.
Another game that I have tried in class is the BBC Syrian Journey game which was made to help people understanding the Syrian refugees’ daily struggles. The good thing about this game is that it is based on extensive research and real stories of Syrians, but this is not reflected on the game as it seems short and shallow. BBC Syrian Journey game makes the player choose from very tough choices where the player will be forced to scarify in any decision he makes. The heartbreaking fact about the game is that some Syrians have to make one of these tough choices every day in real life. An example of the tough decisions that I had to make while playing the game was choosing to stay in a flat without food and getting starved, or to go out with probability of being recognized as an illegal immigrant. I liked playing the game, but I couldn’t enjoy it knowing it is true.
These were not the only choice games that I liked, I also liked the Sleep-Deprived Mom game which was made to help understanding how mothers usually suffer. The name of the game name grabbed my attention, so I wanted to know more about it. What I liked about this game was how real the given situations were. While I was playing this game, I found that I can relate to my mom and I in many cases. However, I believe that such issue cannot be expressed in a form of game, because moms’ reactions will be different based on their kids’ attitudes. Overall, the game was realistic and fun.
Domestic violence in Egypt was another game that I have tried, which meant to expose the problem of domestic violence in Egypt. The thing that annoyed me while playing the game is mainly the limited choices; as I felt that if I ever been in such situations I wouldn’t react within the offered choices. The good thing about it is that it forces people to think about how crucial the problem is and that it is escalating, so hopefully someone raise awareness and make a change.
Finally, I tried Get Bad News game which was made to help people know more about fake news that we read everyday. The Thing that I loved about the game is the measure of credibility and number of followers which are calculated for the player while proceeding through the game. However, it forces the player into certain choices, so the probability of getting different results is too small. The game made me think about how some famous bloggers (who have millions of followers) might have started with fake blogs and news, so now I know that I shouldn’t trust any piece information so easily.