On Serious Games Sharing Serious Games quality projects
(Puedes leer la versión en español de este artículo aquí)
Today is an especial day for us. Though usually we talk here about others’ super cool serious games, today we are going to talk about one of our own games: ‘A Day at my School‘ a game that pretends to create awareness and denounce bullying in schools.
Recently the news in Spain has been full of stories about kids taking their own lives because they couldn’t stand bullying anymore. As kids, some of us at On Serious Games also suffered bullying at school and we have been deeply moved by the current situation. After such a long time sharing what others do to rise voices and indignation, this time, we wanted to be the ones protesting. Bullying is not “a kids’ game”, bullying can ruin lives or
even end them.
‘A Day at my School’ doesn’t show the bully’s point of view, neither the victim’s, the game pretends to position the player as one of the spectators, those kids that see day after day how their classmates suffer and never protest against it. Sometimes is fear what stops them, but most of the time it is just indifference. They laugh or they just look to the other side. But what would happen if all the victims disappeared from school? What if you were the only one left … besides the bully?
‘A Day at my School’ is divided into two parts. First, you will be the one having fun while others receive the ‘jokes’. Tap to record what is happening, you will be able to upload the video to the internet if the teacher doesn’t catch you! How cool would it be to have all the school visiting your video?
During the second part of the game, you will be the one receiving and being recorded. Not that much fun now, is it? Tap to avoid the buller’s hits for as long as you can. After each round, you will have to confront a tough decision: are you ready to go another day to the school and bear the bullying? Or will you ask your parents to start in a new school?
You can play ‘A Day at my School’ for free here. The game has been developed for the Spanish Anti-bullying day and in-game texts are available only in Spanish, but the mechanics will be easy to grasp by any player.
If you know about any case of bullying, please contact your local anti-bullying association and hold out your hand for the victim. Bullies will not keep going if they don’t have an audience. If you have kids, please teach them about integrity, sympathy and especially, about empathy. This could save lives.
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