April 3, 2008 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Breakthrough, a human-rights organization in New York, seeks to spark dialogue and raise awareness about U.S. immigration policies with a new video game, ICED — which stands for I Can End Deportation.
In the game, which is free to download, players can choose from one of five characters, each from a different country, and walk in the virtual shoes of a young immigrant navigating city life while trying to gain citizenship and avoid detention and deportation.
All characters are based on real-life people and situations. The game’s producers say they are trying to show how current immigration laws have increased the number of crimes that can lead to deportation and have decreased immigrants’ rights to appeal.
“Our focus is really on these issues of lack of due process, that judges’ hands are tied, and these mandatory deportations,” says Heidi Boisvert, lead designer and developer of the game and multimedia manager at Breakthrough. “People who are merely suspected of being illegal aren’t being given the right to have a real hearing.”
The game unfolds in two parts, first in the city, then in a detention center. Players face difficult decisions and have to answer true-or-false questions about immigration. Ultimately the characters must await one of four possibilities: deportation, indefinite detention, voluntary departure, or citizenship.
“The objective of the first level is trying to stay out of trouble, but once you’re in trouble, the objective is to try to get out,” says Ms. Boisvert. “But what we’re trying to underscore is that even if you do all the right things, you still may be fighting a losing battle.”
While still in graduate school, Ms. Boisvert, along with a fellow graduate student, Natalia Rodriguez, came up with the idea for the game. They worked with Breakthrough to develop it, in partnership with local organizations, teachers, and students. Creators of the game hope young people who are old enough to vote will be among the main users of the game, and they worked with more than 100 students from New York high schools while designing it.
“The future of policy making and voting will lie in their hands,” says Ms. Boisvert. “The idea of using a game environment makes those ideas around immigration policy seem more accessible and concrete.”
An 80-page curriculum accompanying the game is also available for free download in two versions, one for use by educators, and another tailored for use by local charity organizers.
So far the game’s Web site has attracted 60,000 unique visitors and also features additional content inviting players to learn more and to take action on the issue.
“We believe that popular culture and new media have a very high impact and transformational potential,” says Mallika Dutt, executive director at Breakthrough. “This is not meant to be a replacement set of tools, but we believe that this is an important set of additional tools that nonprofits need to be looking at and engaging with in a more innovative way.”
To play the game: Go to http://www.breakthrough.tv.
