Author: brady

Notes on Observance. 

– I like the concept of battle ship. 

– struggling to understand how the rules work. 

– I’m sneaking the Mexicans across successfully 

– kinda slow, the Americans can not catch me. 

– I’m too good at sneaking across. 

– Kinda unsure of the rules still the Americans are just letting me cross. 

– No winner because I didn’t realize I had to look for green cards to declare citizenship. 

– My partner also didn’t have enough time to play as a Mexican so we don’t know who could’ve won. 

– creative game in general. I liked it. Wish we had more time to play it. 

(Climate Change Game)

Players take on the role of a climate refugee navigating a world devastated by environmental disasters. They must manage limited resources, form alliances, and make moral choices such as whether to share dwindling supplies or hoard them for survival. As players progress, they learn about the causes of climate change and its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities.

Mechanics: Dynamic weather disasters (hurricanes, wildfires, droughts) that force players to adapt. A morality system where choices affect relationships with NPCs and long-term survival. Interactive storytelling that presents real world environmental case studies.

Message: The game highlights the urgency of climate change and the human cost of environmental neglect.

(Immigration Game) 

Players assume the role of an immigration officer in a fictional country experiencing political turmoil. They must make decisions on asylum applications, refugee status, and deportations while balancing their personal ethics, government policies, and public opinion.

Mechanics: Case files inspired by real refugee and immigration stories. Limited resources force tough choices: Do you approve a questionable application or follow strict policies? Multiple endings based on how compassionate or strict players are.

Message: Encourages players to think about  the challenges of immigration policies and their impact on human lives.

(Mental Health & Stigma)

Concept: emotionally driven game where players step into the mind of someone struggling with anxiety and depression. Each level represents different mental health challenges, such as social anxiety, burnout, or trauma. Players must navigate these challenges through puzzles, dialogue, and interactive storytelling.

Mechanics:  A  world that changes based on the character’s mental state. Mindfulness and coping mini-games that educate players on mental health strategies. A branching story where choices impact how the character seeks support.

Message: Raises awareness about mental health, reducing stigma and promoting empathy.

Mary Flanagan’s Perspective: Flanagan argues that games go beyond entertainment, serving as platforms for critical engagement where players exercise agency and find meaning through interactions with rules, environments, and narratives. Her perspective highlights the social, political, and cultural dimensions of games, emphasizing their ability to reflect and influence real-world issues. Chris Crawford’s Perspective: Crawford, a game designer, defines games more rigidly as interactive experiences where players make decisions in response to challenges. He emphasizes the interactive nature of games, viewing them as simulations in which player choices directly impact the outcome. Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman’s Perspective: Salen and Zimmerman define games as structured systems governed by rules that establish goals and outcomes. Their focus is on the structured nature of gameplay, emphasizing the balance of skill and chance in achieving objectives. They see games as frameworks that guide player experiences. Key Differences: The primary distinction among these definitions lies in their focus: Flanagan considers the broader cultural and critical impact of games, Crawford emphasizes interactivity and decision-making, while Salen and Zimmerman concentrate on game structure and mechanics. An activist game is designed to inspire social, political, or cultural change. These games encourage players to critically engage with real-world issues, such as inequality, human rights, and environmental concerns, prompting reflection or action. Activist games often challenge traditional narratives and power structures, using gameplay as a medium for social commentary. Games like checkers and Chess fall under the category of perfect information games, where all players have access to the same knowledge about the game’s state at all times. Other examples include: Checkers: A deterministic game where all moves and positions are visible to both players. Tic-Tac-Toe: A simple example where both players can see the entire board and every move made. Chess: Both players can see where the pieces are and what they do. Chance-based or gambling games have historically been linked to spiritual or religious beliefs. Many ancient cultures viewed these games as a means of interpreting fate, divine will, or omens. The element of randomness in such games was often thought to reflect the influence of gods or spirits, making them tools for decision-making or religious rituals. The tension between games and governing or religious institutions dates back centuries. In Ancient Rome and medieval Europe, certain games were banned due to their associations with gambling or because they were seen as distractions from religious and civic duties. More recently, games like Dungeons & Dragons (which faced backlash in the 1980s) and violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto have been criticized for their perceived moral or social impact. A fox game is a game where players have partial but not complete knowledge of the game state, leading to uncertainty and requiring strategic thinking. Modern examples include: The Mansion of Happiness was an early American board game designed to teach moral and spiritual lessons. Players progressed by making choices aligned with Christian virtues like honesty, kindness, and piety. The game served as a tool for moral instruction, particularly for children. Artists from the Fluxus and Surrealist movements often used games as a way to challenge conventional artistic and societal norms. Surrealists, in particular, believed that games involving chance and randomness could unlock deeper levels of creativity, freeing players from rational constraints. Games provided a space for experimentation with absurdity, symbolism, and the subconscious. Games have been reskinned and repurposed throughout history to reflect different cultural or historical contexts. During World War II, pinball machines were modified to include patriotic or war-related themes. Similarly, Fluxus artists reimagined games like Monopoly and Ping Pong as critical or experimental experiences, subverting traditional values through altered gameplay and aesthetics. By modifying classic games like Monopoly and Ping Pong, Fluxus artists made statements about art, play, and society. Their approach disrupted traditional interpretations of these games, transforming them into tools for creative expression, social critique, and commentary on capitalist values. Artists such as Lilian Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Takako Saito, Yoko Ono, Gabriel Orozco, and Ruth Catlow have used war-themed games to explore themes of conflict, violence, and power dynamics. Through game-based artwork, these artists critique militarism, the human cost of war, and the commercialization of violence, challenging traditional portrayals of warfare in culture. In critical or serious games, player agency—the ability to make meaningful choices that influence the game’s outcome—is essential. A strong sense of agency enables players to engage deeply with the game’s themes, narratives, and mechanics, making the experience more impactful. Without agency, players may feel disconnected from the game’s message, reducing its ability to provoke thought or inspire change.

Empathy Game on Fleeing The country and being different than everyone else 

studies said that it did change peoples empathy “a little bit”. 

Got a positive result but it didnt matter because it wasnt big enough. 

“Who is gonna sit down and decide to play a game that will encourage change”

people are not looking for games that encourage change as much. 

Take the lolipop. When you take it it starts the game. your on a zoom call. Tells the story of a facebook stocker. The dangers of sharing your information online. 

You also control the information that the players get at a certain moment in time and throughout the game.

I have only played or remember playing one Advergame. It was the minion rush game promoting dispicable me 2 or 3. it was a fun game it was pretty much subway surfer but reskinned. It did not however make me wanna watch the movie. The app is no longer on my phone and i forgot about the movie. so this game did not work on me but I can see it working for the younger kids at the time. Tooth Protector worked so well because they made it to where eating snacks was not a bad thing, it was human nature. Too much snacking however can lead to tooth decay. Escape worked to well because it makes the player aware of the quotidian tribulations that would cause such a need in the first place, and then uses search-engine optimization to get the game into the hands of people likely to be suffering from those tribulations. The game not only musters a procedural rhetoric of burdensome coercion, but it actually turns that rhetoric inside out, encasing the game inside the very experience chat reveals it. Chace the Chuck wagon and Shark bait failed due to a combination of poor marketing, lack of appeal, and technical or gameplay shortcomings. Volvo’s Drive for Life initiative was a safety awareness campaign aimed at educating drivers about road safety and reducing traffic-related fatalities. It aligned with Volvo’s long-standing reputation for prioritizing vehicle safety. Some brands that used in-advergame advertising were Coca-Cola – Featured their products and branding in games like The Sims and FarmVille. McDonalds – Included branding in various mobile and online games, often as part of promotional campaigns targeting younger audiences. Pepsi – Released their own game, Pepsi Invaders, and included in-game ads in racing and sports games. Nike – Integrated ads into sports games like the FIFA and NBA 2K series, featuring virtual gear and branding. Burger King – Created the Sneak King game for Xbox as part of a promotional campaign, incorporating the brand directly into gameplay. Red Bull – Frequently features in extreme sports games and racing games, aligning with their brands energetic image. General Motors – Showcased their vehicles in racing games like Gran Turismo and Forza. One of the first home-console advergames was Pepsi Invaders (1983), which was created for the Atari 2600. It was developed by Coca-Cola as a promotional game to target its competitor, Pepsi. The game was essentially a modified version of Space Invaders, where players shot down the letters spelling PEPSI instead of traditional alien enemies. It was never sold commercially but was distributed in limited quantities to Coca-Cola employees, making it one of the earliest examples of a home-console advergame. The Toilet Training game, developed as an educational tool, is considered sophisticated due to its use of behavioral psychology principles, interactive learning, and gamification to reinforce toilet training in young children. Do I agree? Yes, to an extent. If the game effectively applies these psychological and educational principles, it can be a helpful tool for parents. However, its sophistication depends on the execution. some toilet training games may be too simplistic or gimmicky to truly make a difference. Traditional methods combined with digital tools may offer the best results. Advergames and anti-advergames both use interactive engagement, persuasive messaging, and gamification to shape player perceptions and behaviors. They create emotional connections through immersive experiences, whether by reinforcing positive brand associations or using satire to critique corporate practices. Both rely on persuasion theory, narrative framing, and user experience design to ensure their messages are compelling and memorable. Cultural awareness is key, as anti-advergames often challenge the same consumerist behaviors that advergames promote. While advergames aim to enhance brand perception and drive sales, anti-advergames seek to expose corporate manipulation, yet both showcase the power of interactive media in influencing public opinion.