I have played various games, some of which are digital, and some were in-class games. I want to reflect on 7 games that influenced me.
Syrian Refugees “A digital narrative game”:
This game was interesting and influential as I am placing myself in a refugee’s life and face the same challenges as they do. I have encountered so many difficult choices of how to migrate from my hometown just to search for safety and escape the danger in my country. All options were dangerous, and I had to choose between deadly paths just to escape danger. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to find that my end in the game was happy, and I was able to escape safely despite the dangers that I had encountered. I arrived at the airport of a European country with my family members. However, I am sure that in reality, this is not the case all the time. In contrast, most refugees face death and lose their lives just to escape the danger in their countries. When I played it for the second time, I died while I was in Turkey and trying to save my family and the woman with her daughter. It is rare to find refugees who can escape safely using illegal paths to escape.
Sucrose “In-class game”
This game was unique for me because it was the first time to played such a game that has this style of questions and cards. The way we encounter questions by randomly playing the cards is interesting and make us face unexpected questions. The most difficult part in the game was choosing when to skip any question because I always encountered challenging questions that I felt I needed to skip. However, the questions themselves were deep and forced me to think of concepts that I might not try to examine deeply like this.
The empathy toy “In-class game”
When I played this game in class and I had to put myself in others’ places, I felt like it was a unique experience to imagine how a person might live these conditions and what could be their reactions might be to different situations. I felt more like I want to play it and try different personalities to feel what they feel. My character of the Chrestian Palestinian girl was influenced to live in the same conditions they live in and imagine myself if I were in her place. I imagined how my choices will be and how she will navigate life while being a Christian Palestinian and at the same time rich. I felt that wealth, even if I was a minority, guaranteed a fulfilling life.
- September 7th, 2020Links to an external site. (a simulation of COVID-19 student decisions by Cait Kirby)
This game made me reflect on the tragic lives that some people encounter during COVID-19. It reminds me of the hard choices we had to make just to protect ourselves and the people around us. Situations like the character faced in the game can be navigated more wisely as the player is really stressed. If I lived in the same conditions, I think I will wisely make different decisions as the game had limited options. I know how stressed students were; however, such a global crisis should be more controlled than what was the conditions in the game.
This game made me feel so emotional because I love to take care of children, although I don’t usually take care of them very often. During the game, I felt overwhelmed about the choices because the children were very unsatisfied with everything. In addition, this game really affected me because it made me think of how I am still single and suffer from sleep deprivation, so what about a mother who has to be committed to her personal life besides taking care of children? Finally, I was not happy with my score as it was 10/14 because I thought I would be more in control.
- Orphan by HeartLinks to an external site. By Pansee (2018) –background hereLinks to an external site.
This empathetic game forced me to think why we, as people who have families, do not make any effort to be families for such orphans. Actually, we should be more considerate and prevent any action that might hurt any orphan. I think because orphans are the most vulnerable to sadness and loneliness, the Prophet Mohamed of Islam has referred to them harshly and asserted to us to take care of orphans and treat them kindly. What they feel is not because they are orphans, but because we are not good humans.
- Know YourselfLinks to an external site. By Nermine and Yasmin (2018) –background hereLinks to an external site.
This game really taught me not to be judgmental, as we as humans often fall into this mistake and judge each other harshly. It is like a training on how to think of others and react to them. I really need more of this game just to train myself not to judge others and not to make any assumptions about anyone.
I would like to link all games. From my perspective, the empathy toy is the guide of all games because it talks about empathy, and all the games that I have chosen talk about placing myself in others’ places. For example, I tried to put myself in the place of a refugee. In addition, I tried to live the experience of someone who is an orphan and feel the suffering that they encounter. Therefore, empathy is the guidance of all games, and I also consider it the guidance for my life. Based on that, I feel my narrative game is going to be about something empathetic with a focus on morality and following the path of Allah, who created us and knows what is best for us.
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