Our project explores the issue of gender inequality in everyday life. At the beginning, the player will be asked to select the option of female or male, and their response determines the events and interactions they are faced with throughout the story.
The two characters exist within the same universe and are often seen in each other’s scenes, however, when the player experiences the game through the male character, they are oblivious to what is happening to the female character. In the public transit scene, the male character notices she is upset but brushes it off. In the workplace, the female character being pestered by her supervisor is out of view unless the player chooses to walk to the left of the scene and, even then, they appear to simply be having a conversation. While shopping, the male character does not interact with the female products or note the inequality in prices.
This reflects the real-life ignorance or indifference that often exists in issues of inequality-not just of gender but racial and economic. When you are a part of a privileged group, it is easy to be oblivious to the hardship of others. We thought it would be interesting to have the player only grasp the message once they have played through the female character’s perspective and put themselves in the shoes of someone on the disadvantaged end.
Hiba Faisal, Hong Pham, Anita Zeng