How the AWS Game Builder Challenge, 2023 Valorant Championship, and Poverty Simulation Inspired a Video Game
How do you teach those with privilege to have sympathy for others?
How do you help people recognize when their behavior is in poor taste and is hurtful?
How do you support those open to having tough conversations that lead to better outcomes?
What if we try a video game? Not just any video game, one that everyone wants to play because it's always changing, and you never know what character you’ll be playing until you “win” the game.
When you consider the shift in perspective from the L. Frank Baum Wizard Of Oz story to the Gregory Maguire Wicked story, you gain a sense of how our perspectives can be broadened and understand there is more to most people's stories. For example, my social media feed recently shared a video of a woman in a sports car, and she is buying food using food stamps. The woman is ridiculed at the counter for driving the sports car and using food stamps. The story ends with the woman returning the sports car to a friend, because she doesn’t own a car, and only borrowed the vehicle to buy groceries for her family as she tries to get back on her feet. The judgments and ridicule experienced by the woman are seemingly unfounded now that we know the full story.
To help our society default to more optimistic perceptions, we need ways to make these stories mainstream. Additionally, if people only feel safe learning and exploring their light and dark sides when they are not being judged personally, then providing a video game is one way to explore this outlet.
AWS Game Builder Challenge
The January 14, 2025 due date for the AWS Game Builder Challenge created a sense of urgency around an idea I have been pondering for a few years. How do you get people to recognize they need to change their perceptions? Many people change when they’ve experienced a life-altering event, like the death of a loved one, escaping war, or some major incident that forces a perception shift. Most people don’t experience such heavy circumstances and can’t always recognize their privilege. How can we still provide an opportunity for perceptions to shift?
Where did this idea come from?
Attending the Valorant Championship activation in 2023 as an AWS Community Builder started as an exploration into eSports and was an incredibly educational experience. It also wound up triggering an impactful memory from 2018 when I participated in a life-changing poverty simulation thanks to the Missouri Community Action Network. This simulation is run with countless volunteers over a few hours and does an amazing job of putting the participant in the shoes of easily recognized scenarios of families down on their luck, or who have struggled to maintain savings and are just living paycheck to paycheck. I can't recommend this simulation enough! If you ever have an opportunity to participate, do it! (While the simulation is not meant to become a video game, ever since I participated in the simulation and noticed the heavy lift it is to run in person in real-time, the thought has been with me, that this could be a very impactful video game.)
The simulation provides an overview of about 10 different family units in which you participate where tough choices need to be made: Does your 15-year-old go to school today or work a job so you can buy groceries? It is based on real-world experiences and is eye-opening. The simulation immerses you in an alternate reality where tough choices, crime, and bad luck are the norm. This experience had a lasting effect and lingered in the back of my mind as my perception of people struggling and being unemployed changed. This simulation came to mind while visiting the Valorant Championship game. I wasn't at the one where Elon Musk helicoptered in with his son, but just that sentence alone is enough to highlight the fame, interest, and following that simply watching others play video games has.
The original plan to attend Valorant had to do with understanding the game itself, the art of the characters, and how they were dressed, as well as what impact this could have on gender and identity. I was completely shocked when I realized the enormous popularity of watching a team of people play a video game on the big screen. Dating myself, I think back to the film "The Wizard" with Fred Savage as he supports his younger brother as a video game-playing genius.
Valorant's huge fan following, and their interest in merchandise from t-shirts to stuffed characters had me thinking about how to channel this energy into changing people's perceptions. To inspire them to want to participate in a simulation to learn about those less privileged? What would it take to make a video game that could teach people what it feels like to walk in someone else's shoes for a day and hopefully learn something and gain insight to shift perceptions? This is the type of thing that keeps me up at night.
A video game is not the only idea or the best idea, but the AWS Hackathon presented itself and is an outlet for discussing this type of effort. In a world where bullying has been made easier thanks to technology, and when we no longer feel safe talking to our neighbors about bothersome behaviors, it seems we need to leverage technology to bring about some change. Additionally, we all could learn some new skills on how to better handle racism, sexism, and ageism in the home and workplace.
A year passed as I mulled over this idea, and I spoke with trusted friends who mentioned empathy games. My research timeline has been short, and while I’m familiar with the term empathy game, and have searched through STEAM to find a few games like “Passports Please”, “That Dragon Cancer” and “Papa & Yo”, I still have more work to do. Initially what struck me about these three games is that they are focused on severe situations and heavy topics like death, surviving war, and fighting diseases. These are not games you would play to gain skills in handling micro-aggressions. Perhaps, my game idea could help with day-to-day aggressions everyone is trying to manage. This hit home when my spouse was racially profiled in the church where our son attends daycare. The combination of this event and the AWS Game Builder Challenge put this effort in motion.
Micro-aggressions were not something I perceived as impacting me, but 2024 was the year that changed my perception. Working in technology, 2024 was the toughest year for me and I wound up experiencing multiple micro-aggressions that I didn’t fully know how to handle. People don’t seem to be aware of how their actions are perceived and how hurtful they can be, and my response after a few years of pondering is to pilot this video game idea based shamelessly on the Quantum Leap series, the poverty simulation, and the energy I saw around Valorant.
Basic Game Premise
Growing up and watching TV during the 1990’s, I enjoyed Quantum Leap! If you’re not familiar, the main character leaps through time, and embodies different people, but usually has no idea who he inhabits until presented with a reflection. The idea for Dante’s Mirror is like Quantum Leap, except you must search out the mirror. It’s hard to find and only presented after you’ve earned sufficient points to continue in the game. Points are awarded for handling tough situations and there isn’t always a clear direction. You only know what you look like if you can find a mirror and the game is structured such that you pass trials to get closer to the mirror’s location.
Game Mechanics
The game begins with the player in an unknown character in an unknown environment. There are no identifying characteristics on the player’s attire, and no way to identify yourself. You can only interact with your surroundings and respond when people talk to you or about you.
Example Scenario
You jump into a character working on a laptop in an open vestibule. People walk in and notice you, but don’t interact with you. They start talking about how “anyone can walk into this place”, and “should there be more security”, and a conversation ensues about the cost of security as these folks walk past you.
You look around and notice there is no one else in the room and you are alone.
What do you do?
How do you respond?
The game mechanics are such that you gain and lose points depending on the scenario and how you handle it. After navigating the room and finding clues, and interacting with surroundings, you gain enough points to find a mirror to look at yourself and discover you’re a certain gender/ ethnicity/ ability/ etc.
Next Steps
I found out about this game builder challenge too late to finalize a working prototype. Heading into 2025, I welcome feedback on the idea and would love to work with anyone interested in creating a pilot.
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