Blog #6

When Rivers Were Trails is a strange game. I understand the general premise of it and it’s use as an informational tool, but it is still a strange game. Let us start with the good. It is a fairly accurate representation of what it is like to be forced off your land. You do not have a lot of control of the direction and it is very possible you can be separated from your family. I thought the beginning was a good start because you have to go back inside and try to salvage your belongings. It almost reminds me of a fire. From there however, the wheels begin to fall of. A lot of the functions worked very poorly and it is hard to tell if the poor design is intentional or not. The mini games are exceptionally hard, the directions are sometimes unclear, and the cut scenes move to fast to read. In terms of education, there is a lot of good information here. In terms of a game, it’s really hard to engage with. After a few minutes, I wanted to stop playing. That makes me wonder if the education value is there at all because the game is so hard to play. I think the intent is in the right place and we are heading in the right direction, but someone should take this idea and try to improve upon it. The execution of When Rivers Were Trails is subpar. The game I played in the Games For Change was Depression Quest. It an interactive, text based narrative game where you go through what it’s like to have depression. One notable feature about it are the fact that your emotions are described in depth. The game wants you to understand what depression feels like. Another notable feature is that options are crossed out. In the game, you have several options to choose from based on your situation. However, the optimal most positive option is crossed out. It really drives home the point that people with depression can’t just do the things people without depression do, forcing themselves to do something they do not want to do for example. The purpose of it is to try and see through the eyes of someone with depression. I think it definitely achieved that goal. Speaking from the point of view of someone with depression, it is so incredibly hard sometimes to just do the little things like get out of bed in the morning. It’s more than just being tired or having a bad day; it’s an entire weight you carry with you. One of the big drawbacks of the game is that it is very wordy. It would help if there were more pictures. Something to go along with the plot or represent the people close to you like your mom or your girlfriend. What’s interesting about Depression Quest is that it is in direct conflict with Reality is Broken. It doesn’t feel like there is an epic win. That’s kind of on point with both Depression Quest and When Rivers Were Trails. These social games aren’t about riding the high that most video games are. They are about allow you to see a struggle someone else is going through firsthand. I think that’s beautiful. I think it’s really hard to create a game that balance’s social issues and being an engaging game that people want to continue playing. People have a tendency to get lost in one of the other. Engaging games often take the form of the gamer’s interest, such as violence or achieving a win. An educational game doesn’t have the same goals. They pull at two different directions. I feel like for it to be successful, there would have to be a lot of allegory and people would need to be able to see it. If there was allegory that no one caught onto, there would not be a point. I have yet to see a game do this successfully. If I were to create a game like that, I would probably make a game similar to risk. I would want it to be a world game that people could latch onto. I think the best topic would be war to use. A board game would be a good medium, but as we have seen with the likes of monopoly, board games can be transferred to video games. Something Depression Quest does well is provide vivid detail. I think in this war game, the player should be forced to make tough decisions and then actual deal with the tough decisions. This would look like hearing the death count and what the deceased people went through before they died. It could also look like hearing the upheaval people would have to go through if you conquered another country. A focus on bystanders would be important. A good idea would also be to include a prologue to talk about the likes of the veterans and the state of the world, it’s history, and it’s future in a post war setting.