A friend of mine posted this on Twitter over the weekend. It’s a game created by/sponsored by the Urban Ministries of Durham in Durham, NC (the town closest to Raleigh).
Here’s the description of the game:
We’re going to challenge the way you think about poverty and homelessness.
Work hard. Do the right thing. Homelessness is something that will never happen to me. Sometimes, all it takes is one life-changing experience to land you on the streets: a job loss, death of a loved one, divorce, natural disaster, or serious illness.
Next thing you know, a chain of events sends things spiraling out of control…
How would you cope? Where would you go? What would you do? Figure something out, right?
We invite you to take the challenge…
I played it a couple of times–it’s very, very interesting. I wouldn’t say it was fun, exactly, but it definitely got me thinking. You have to make a lot of tough choices throughout the process. At the same time, it also challenged my view on games and play–is simulating difficult, strenuous life choices really “play”? Anyhow, I hope you play it and that it gets you thinking about how some of the issues we’ve discussed might tie in to this.
–Hayley
Pro tip: the temp job is the best. Get it by taking the typing test, I wasn’t fast enough to pass it so I just c/p the text when i played the game again.
I was also hoping for a twist ending where it turns out you are will smith and you get a great job because of your rubiks cube skills.
Cheating in a game about poverty? You have no shame, Cole.
Cheating? I was just innocently exploring the game’s procedural rhetoric. Plus, I thought using an operation allowed for but not intended by the game designers was called exploiting. If there was a down-loadable version I could of done some real cheating by using my favorite to create a large inheritance from a long lost uncle.
I usually play a game through as intended at least one time before pulling out my virtual scalpel. In the end though I really do have no shame when it comes to cheating/exploiting/hacking single-player games. No one is harmed and I get to comfortably explore the rules of a different world.
Hmm, apparently I formatted that post wrong. It should have said “using my favorite memory editor to create…” with memory editor linked to the outside page.
Made it through the month! But only had $57 left….
I agree that the Temp job is your best bet–but ignore your mean coworkers!