“Moving Players Beyond Clicktavism” by Heidi J. Boisvert

GAME/WORLD:
Moving Players Beyond Clicktavism
Heidi J. Boisvert

Friday, August 31, 2012

WHY GAMES?


HOW THEN CAN GAMES
CHALLENGE THE VERY IMAGES
AND ACTIONS THEY
PERPETUATE?


“THE ONLY WAY TO
DISMANTLE A MYTH IS TO
RE-MYTHIFY IT...”
ROLAND BARTHES


“Ever since video games were invented, parents and
teachers have been trying to make them boring...making
games educational is like dumping Velveeta on broccoli.”
Justin Peters


CASE STUDIES


ICED: I CAN END DEPORTATION
1st 3D Social Change Game, 2008


PICK 1 OF 5 IMMIGRANT YOUTH
they represent different immigrant statuses.


LISTEN TO CHARACTER’S STORY
based on authentic case studies.


NAVIGATE CITY IN 1ST/3RD POV
aerial map reveals trigger points


ANSWER MYTH/FACT QUESTIONS
about immigration policy & law


MAKE MORAL DECISIONS
based on expansion of aggravated felony laws


CHOOSE WISELY...
...to avoid spawning immigration ofﬁcers.


OR WIND UP IN DETENTION
often indeﬁnitely with little recourse for getting out.


SPEND TIME IN THE HOLE...
and then pressured to sign a voluntary deportation order.


AWAIT YOUR HEARING
before an immigration judge whose hands are tied.


HEAR YOUR OUTCOME
3 programmed randomly to mirror legal terrain.


IMPACT
• allowed over 230,000 to experience the devastating impact of unfair
detention and deportation laws.

• used by 250 groups in the U.S. to generate local support for fair
immigration policy.

• generated extensive media coverage (over 200 interviews): 68 TV
stations, 27 newspapers, 295 radio broadcasts, 140 blogs & 76 internet
news.

• changed the frame “what about illegal don’t you understand” in
mainstream media to “when you deny due process to one group of
people you put all of our freedoms at risk.”

• increased knowledge on subject by 84% and changed attitudes by 62%.

HOMELAND GUANTANAMOS
browser-based, ﬂash doco-game, 2009


YOU’RE A JOURNALIST
get your ﬁrst assignment.


GO UNDERCOVER AS A GUARD
ﬁnd out what happened to Boubacar Bah


GUIDE HELPS YOU NAVIGATE
the interactive map of the facility & introduces you to fellow
detainees.

WHEN YOU MEET CHARACTERS
click on the icon & listen to their personal testimonials.


DOCUMENTARY VIDEOS
of their personal stories offer you clues.


ANSWER QUIZ QUESTIONS
about the issues raised in the testimonies you heard.


IF CORRECT, EARN AN ITEM
which can be used to unlock critical information about each the
case.

THE MEDICAL RECORD
reveals that Boubacar was put in solitary conﬁnement after
sustaining a serious head injury.

ACCUMULATE ALL ITEMS
and the clues will begin to ﬁll the missing details of the case in
your notebook.

UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY
then you can publish your article exposing the lack of standards
in immigrant detention.

IMPACT

• rendered detention conditions & deaths in detention
accessible to over 86,000.

• used as a mobilizing tool by 300 partner groups during a night
of a thousand conversations.

• helped institute national detention standards policy.


AMERICA
2049
1st ARG on Facebook, 2011

“...parachutes us into an alternate
reality not too far from our own,
where we ﬁnd America poised at a
crossroads, and where we are asked
to make critical decisions about
how we truly want to deﬁne
ourselves as a nation...”


PRE-LAUNCH SEEDING

TRAILHEAD

BREADCRUMBS

A friendly reminder: It’s time for your annual
SMRTTid check-up!

BREADCRUMBS

COUNTDOWN CLOCK

AGENT TRAINING

LEVEL UNLOCKS WEEKLY

AGENT TERMINAL

GROUND TEAM PROVIDES CLUES

SOLVE PUZZLES TO ADVANCE
DISTRICTS

COLLECT CRYPTOGRAPHS

MINIGAMES TO CRACK SAFE

ALTERED HISTORIC ARTIFACTS

FUTURE FABRICATED EMBEDDED
WITH CAPTCHAS

CHAT THREADS OF DWF
COMMUNICATION

SEARCH ENGINE OF THE FUTURE

WEEKLY NEWS UPDATES &
REGIONAL INFO

WEEKLY DAILY SHOW STYLE
CURRICULAR EPISODES

DISCUSSION FORUM FOR
COLLECTIVE SLEUTHING

EVALUATION OF ATTITUDES AT KEY
DECISION POINTS

LIVE EVENTS
with leading cultural
institutions each week

Jane Addams Hull House
LES Tenement Museum
Angel Island
Birmingham Civil Rts Institute
Bosque Redondo
Levine Museum
Skirball Cultural Ctr.
Arab American Museum
Ellis Island


CELEB INVOLVEMENT
generously donated their time
to put a face on the issues


IMPACT
• educated over 25,000 during the ﬁrst 12 week run about the
enduring struggle for civil and cultural pluralism & engaged
players to participate in a future struggle for human rights.

• 86% of players indicated at least some willingness to become
active on an issue they encountered in the game.

• 25% reported they had spent time reconsidering their views
on the issue in real life.

• generated mainstream press coverage from 120 outlets.


GETTING THERE...

KEY LEARNINGS
• use emerging technology in unexpected (but familiar) ways

• mainstream medium enables pervasive integration into daily lives &
reaches large numbers

• high production values, slick & commercial makes a difference

• compelling narrative drives game play & engagement

• fun & challenging game play motivates continued exploration

• social collaborative problem-solving & awareness-raising

• expand virtual into physical activation around issues

BUT HOW CAN WE BETTER
BALANCE MESSAGE WITH
ENGAGEMENT TO INCREASE
IMPACT?


BY NOT MAKING
“SERIOUS GAMES.”


CHALLENGES
• attaining the “threshold of enjoyability” required for deep learning to
take place (Wang, Shen & Ritterfeld).

• combatting the “ecology of interruption” which erodes knowledge
schemas, and emotion-feeling cycles (Carr, Turkle et al)

• designing and employing more rigorous scientiﬁc research to measure
impact. (Graesser, Chipman, Leeming & Biedenbach & Ennemoser).

• transforming clicktavism into activism; bridging digital with physical
engagement.

• instigating long-term sustainable change through repeat exposure (aka
healthy addiction).

EMERGING METHODOLOGY


SOCIAL ISSUE

POP CULTURE
WITH A PURPOSE!
INTERACTIVE
MEDIA
TOOLS

PLAY
MESSAGING
+ SOCIAL
ENGINEERING
QUALITY
PRODUCTION
+ STYLE


“If we want to change Culture through culture, then we must learn to
speak to hearts and minds through the semiotic systems--the
cognitive and affective cues--employed by the commercial industry to
construct the alternative realities into which the masses are escaping,
not simply appropriate basic mechanics.”

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized
habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in
democratic society...those who man manipulate this unseen
mechanism of society constitute an invisible government...”


“In building our physical and social worlds, we build our minds
and our capacities of thought & reason...it is the brain’s great
plasticity and thirst for cheap outsourced labor that drives the
distributed engines of socio-technological adaptation and change.”


APPLIED TO NUI & OUI TOOLS

INCREASED CONFLUENCE
BTW PHYSICAL & VIRTUAL + HUMAN & MACHINE

QUESTIONS...
1. do emerging technologies
carry the power to create
“whole new agent-world
circuits” in the brain (and
body)?

11. if so, in what ways can we
speculate they transform us into
“profoundly embodied agents”?

III. how can i harness these
technological affordances &
cognitive theories into socially
conscious game design?

EXAMINATION AREAS
• brain architecture & neural mechanisms

• sensory motor system in the body

• scaffolding onto the environment

• affect & emotions as feedback loops


EMERGING FINDINGS
• Kinesthesia enhances learning, reasoning & cognitive change. (Goldin-
Meadows)

• Virtual worlds serve as cognitive niche construction; more embodied,
more we ofﬂoad. (Laland)

• Repeated simulation changes perceptually guided behavioral patterns via
neural remapping. (Barsalou)

• Social collaborative learning generates “higher achievement outcomes,
better retention, improved motivation, high level reasoning & better
social skills.”(Johnson & Johnson)

• “Novelty effect” induces rapid orienting response patterns, which
stimulates limbic system, cueing brain for reward. (Birchﬁeld et al)

CURRENT PROJECTS


PLAY AS PROCESS
• Humanizing target audience (understanding ecology of play)

• Getting at core values (rational)

• Cracking the “culture code” (emotional)

• Unearthing systems thinking (visualization)

• Designing a board game (creative application)

• Play-testing each teams games (iterative co-design)


BUILD CIVIL SOCIETY IN CUBA

END HOMELESSNESS IN U.S.

INCREASE SEC IN 3-7 YR OLDS

GUIDING INGREDIENTS
• Abstract message to quietly infuse values through play

• Implement dynamic meaning to allow story to grow organically out of gameplay

• Encourage subjectivity and embodiment to increase authentic affective atunement

• Induce healthy dependence to ensure repeat exposure to social message

• Understand the multiplicity of social contexts and types of engagement of target
audience

• Integrate opportunity for social connection and emergent play (not false free will)

• Enhance super-boost fun factors by increasing complexity/diversity of game play and
audio/visual presentation

• Shift focus from content and knowledge transfer to a social ecology of participation

THANKS FOR LISTENING...
send questions to:
heidi@futureperfectlab.com

follow me on twitter:
@hjboisvert


“Moving Players Beyond Clicktavism” by Heidi J. Boisvert

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“Moving Players Beyond Clicktavism” by Heidi J. Boisvert