Rae's Workshop Response

Do you think the political simulation games you examined would have been "effective" in communicating with people via the Internet?

I elected to look at "Donkey John" and "New York Defender". I think these two games would be effective. Donkey John in particular is a subtle twist on a game more-or-less guaranteed to be appealing, as it is based on, and I identical in gameplay to, an extremely successful game of the past, one which will also have nostalgia value for many internet users. The political message is clear, but not so strident or overwhelming as to be discouraging to the user's engagement with the game.

Was the political message underpinning the political simulation games you examined immediately obvious? If not, were you driven or interested to find out what the game was trying to "say" (apart from the fact that you have to as part of the workshop)?

It was. I don't think I would feel it necessary to seek further information about the purpoes of the games' political messages, as it seems sufficiently clear to me.

If you had to write a political simulation game similar in size and structure to those you examined, (a) what would be the point you were trying to make and (b) how would the game be structured and operate in order to make that point?

I would probably seek to address other issues other than the obvious concerns of Iraq and the Bush administration. I feel these issues have been thoroughly addressed, in the blogosphere and in recreational situations such as this, and would expand the concept to other social concerns I feel are important.

I think I would design something that was a conceptual hybrid of the Sims and a Tamagotchi, but which favoured for gameplay romantic liaisons that were opposed to the heteronormative stereotypes games usually assume. For example, homosexual and polyamorous relationships would be actively encouraged.