An overview of the game
Concept
I plan to create an educational game called ‘Modern Cocoa Farmer’ (MCF). This project is about the hidden story of child slavery and child trafficking in the cocoa industry in West Africa. The game will allow you [the player] to play out this story from three perspectives. Parents from Mali, Farmers in the Ivory Coast and Consumers. These three perspectives play a key role in the story as I see it. I plan to use MCF to explain and educate about the complex networks of economic, social and environmental relationships which make up this commodity and lead to slavery in this context.
Practical and material direction of the project
I have started to collaborate with Alan Wills (computer programmer) and Erin Tomkins (Music composer) to create a mini game. We are making this game in ‘Unity’ (a free game engine), but the final game will be coded from scratch because it allows for more creative freedom.
Questions
What role does design have to play in the story of slavery in the Ivory coast cocoa industry ? How can I bring the skills of others together to execute a project and keep a clear direction ? I claim that games and play can be used to make serious comments, raise awareness and make a tangible difference to people’s lives. I am using this game to try to find out if this claim is true.
Form my project will take;
Initially my project will take the form of a digital game with a games controller. I bought a leap motion hand sensor so that I can control the game with my hand gestures in the future. And eventually I would like to use an xbox kinect to incorporate body gestures into the game as well. This is to increase the player's sense of involvement in the game, heightening the power of the message. I am starting to collect objects which form part of the material culture of the Ivorian cocoa industry, starting with this bag.
Potential users
As this game is intended to educate I would like it to test it out with schoolchildren aged 9, 10 and 11 to teach about the effects of their consumer choices.
I would also like to gage the reaction of the general public by placing the game in various public spaces where games innocuously exist, like pubs and chicken shops.
Beneficiaries
When I have the game well underway I want to get the project sponsored by a charity such as ‘fairtrade’ or the ‘Rainforest Aliance’. They (or another smaller charity) would sponsor game play so that the longer one plays the game, the more is donated to charity. I plan to sell the music on both Spotify and apple music with all proceeds also going to charity too.
In summary
The mechanics of my game are a reflection of the the complex networks of relationships which make up the commodity, not totally accurate, but as close as I can manage.
To make a comment on the feeling of desensitisation that many feel when presented with images of poverty and slavery, the game uses a pixelated aesthetic, similar to Nintendo Entertainment System games.
There will be 3 distinct pieces of music for each level of the game. The Mali and Ivory Coast levels would be inspired by both 8 bit music (used in nintendo games) and traditional folk music from the relevant country. The consumer level would be upbeat and inspired by western feel good pop music.
The hardware and user experience is all chosen with the purpose of engaging the user most fully in the experience of playing the game (Thanks Donald Norman)