Empathy Games probably won't save the world but it can surely gives us a hand in the right direction on how we can reach realities and contexts that are alien to us, enhancing our empathy. This can lead us to a better understanding of the different realities we can experience as humans. Presentation for a seminary on the post-graduation course of Electronic Games Development from Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (Manaus, Brazil). Author: Felipe Barcellos www.elvexkidd.com

2. EMPATHY
GAMES
FELIPE BARCELLOS | @ELVEXKIDD | WWW.ELVEXKIDD.COM
playing for a better
world
Post-graduation in Electronic Games Development
Universidade do Estado do Amazonas (UEA)
Manaus, June 2016, Brazil.

3. EMPATHY
GAMES

4. EMPATHY
GAMES

5. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition

6. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition Potential

7. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition Potential
 Multisensory

8. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition Potential
 Multisensory (graphic, sound, kinetic)

9. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition Potential
 Multisensory (graphic, sound, kinetic)
 & Interactive Environment

10. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition Potential
 Multisensory (graphic, sound, kinetic)
 & Interactive Environment
 Highly Immersive Media

11. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition Potential
 Multisensory (graphic, sound, kinetic)
 & Interactive Environment
 Highly Immersive Media
 Cause Strong Emotional
Reactions

13. Amnesia – The Dark Descent
Frictional Games
Sep 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTlWBtz62
Z0

14. “Stress from the presence of strangers
reduces people’s ability to empathize, a
new study finds. However, just 15 minutes
of playing a video game together (in this
case, the cooperative music game Rock
Band) is enough to overcome this barrier
and allow strangers to empathize with each
other.”
McGill University, Jan 2015.
via Jane McGonigal’s blog
http://janemcgonigal.com/2015/02/18/superbetter-science-updates/

15. EMPATHY
GAMES

16. EMPATHY
GAMES

17. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition

18. EMPATHY
GAMES
Definition
“the capacity to understand what another
person is experiencing from within the
other person's frame of reference, i.e., the
capacity to place oneself in another's
shoes”

19.  Multisensory (graphic, sound, kinetic)
 & Interactive Environment
 Highly Immersive Media
 Cause Strong Emotional Reactions
 Help Empathize with Strangers (bounds)
EMPATHY
GAMES

20. GAMES CAN BE A
POWERFUL MIND-
CHANGING TOOL
CAN BE USED TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD
THROUGH GAME IMMERSION
CRITICAL THINKING OF OUR “TRUTHS” &
UNDERSTANDING OF DIFFERENT REALITIES,
CONTEXTS, PROBLEMS, PEOPLE.

21. AND AS HUMANS, THERE IS A LOT
TO UNDERSTAND AND WORRY
ABOUT.

22. MODERN SLAVERY

23. RACISM

24. RELIGIOUS

25. RAPE

26. SEXUAL IDENTITY AND
GENDER

27. DEPRESSIO

28. EMPATHY
GAMES

29.  Papo & Yo (Vander Caballero)
EMPATHY
GAMES

31. Papo & Yo
Vander Caballero
Minority Media Inc.
Aug 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l88ifV7N4
4

32.  Papo & Yo (Vander Caballero)
 Loneliness (Jordan Magnuson)
EMPATHY
GAMES

33. Loneliness
Jordan Magnuson
Necessary Games
Set 2010
http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/loneliness/flash

34.  Papo & Yo (Vander Caballero)
 Loneliness (Jordan Magnuson)
 Coming Out Simulator (Nick Case)
EMPATHY
GAMES

35. Coming Out Simulator
Nicky Case
Set 2010
http://ncase.itch.io/coming-out-simulator-2014

36.  Papo & Yo (Vander Caballero)
 Loneliness (Jordan Magnuson)
 Coming Out Simulator (Nick Case)
 Dys4ia (Anna Anthropy)
EMPATHY
GAMES

37. “This was a story about frustration - in what
other form do people complain as much about
being frustrated? A video game lets you set
up goals for the player and make her fail to
achieve them. A reader can’t fail a book. It’s
an entirely different level of empathy.”
Anna Anthropy about Dys4ia on PennyArcade

38. Dys4ia
Anna Anthropy
Mar 2012
http://wizardofvore.itch.io/dys4ia

39. How to make
one?
EMPATHY
GAMES

40.  Features (cool mechanics)

41.  Features (cool mechanics)
 Awesome graphics

42.  Features (cool mechanics)
 Awesome graphics
 Perfect BGM & SFX

43.  Features (cool mechanics)
 Awesome graphics
 Perfect BGM & SFX
 Super detailed story

44.  Features (cool mechanics)
 Awesome graphics
 Perfect BGM & SFX
 Super detailed story
 THE MESSAGE (THE FEELING, WHAT
TO THINK ABOUT)

45.  Features (cool mechanics)
 Awesome graphics
 Perfect BGM & SFX
 Super detailed story
 THE MESSAGE (THE FEELING, WHAT
TO THINK ABOUT)
How the mechanics
can help spreading
this message?

47. Mechanics as Metaphor (part 2)
Extra Credits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP_qNm-96Dc

48.  The game designer sets the boundaries of
the experience (which central concept will be explored?)

49.  The game designer sets the boundaries of
the experience (which central concept will be explored?)
 Meaningful actions (mechanics as
metaphors)

50.  The game designer sets the boundaries of
the experience (which central concept will be explored?)
 Meaningful actions (mechanics as
metaphors)
 The “playing” tells the story (not cut scenes)

51.  The game designer sets the boundaries of
the experience (which central concept will be explored?)
 Meaningful actions (mechanics as
metaphors)
 The “playing” tells the story (not cut scenes)
 Let the players make choices

52.  The game designer sets the boundaries of
the experience (which central concept will be explored?)
 Meaningful actions (mechanics as
metaphors)
 The “playing” tells the story (not cut scenes)
 Let the players make choices
 Let them imagine

53.  The game designer sets the boundaries of
the experience (which central concept will be explored?)
 Meaningful actions (mechanics as
metaphors)
 The “playing” tells the story (not cut scenes)
 Let the players make choices
 Let them imagine
 To explore the full potential of the
gameplay

54. “Will this save the world?
Not quite.
But it may be a hint of a future
with games integrated into
every aspect of our lives.”
Allan Hoffman, May 02, 2014.
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2014/05/can_video_games_fo
ster_empathy_and_save_the_world.html

55. FELIPE BARCELLOS | @ELVEXKIDD | WWW.ELVEXKIDD.COM
Thank
you!
EMPATHY
GAMESplaying for a better
world