The Promised Land is a narrative mini-game that walks the player through an immersive, and often frustrating experience. No clear instructions are provided at the onset of the game; the player is immediately thrust into the virtual reality and attempts to find meaning through their search of a ‘Promised Land.’ At its core, The Promised Land is a study in imagination and a search for meaning through the everyday repetitiveness and nuances of life. The game is quite and contemplative; the actions required throughout are simple, however the process of extracting meaning is much more involved and time-consuming. In essence, the game attempts to create two distinct realities in the game: the ‘real,’ where you are forced to engage in simple and repetitive tasks to obtain ‘currency,’ and the imaginary, where you have the opportunity to think beyond what is presented directly in front of you, be creative and amuse yourself. The game forces the player to repeatedly engage in monotonous life actions. Each time, they are forced to think about it in a different way, exaggerating them and appropriating their context. The ultimate goal of the game is finding moments of meaning in the existing structure of life, represented by the rules of the game.
Rana Al-Fayez