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The Characters of the SDD game

The SDD Game Development

Jonas Bernitt,  AFEdemy, Academy on Age-Friendly Environments in Europe B. V.

A key outcome of SDD (Smart for Democracy and Diversity) is an online game that shows learners the complexities of discrimination. The game content is based on real experiences that were identified in interviews during the beginning of the project (See Post: Writing of the Scenes for the SDD Educational game). The learners should experience how different forms of discrimination and hate speech are expressed subliminally in everyday life and what influence this has on the people affected.      

The Content

In the story of the game, the player is a detective who has to prevent the planned theft of a painting in a museum. The theme of discrimination is revealed during the various interrogations of the detective investigation. During several interviews, different forms of discrimination in everyday life are shown through communication between the game characters. As a player, you can always decide between different reactions in these discussions, whereby the game dialogue adapts itself interactively to the decisions.

Learning with SDD

After the case is solved at the end of the plot, the game includes a reflection part in which all characters from the game situations give feedback on the player’s decisions and reactions. This is intended to encourage the players to think about everyday discrimination in the long term.

In conjunction with the game, also a workshop curriculum will be published for trainers and facilitators. The whole package can be used to create playful workshops in various educational environments, like schools. In this way, SDD can help to raise awareness for discrimination and hate speech in day-to-day life.

Development process

At the beginning of the development process, a storyboard was created that ultimately defined the game locations and characters. On this basis, the graphic design was carried out by the designer Leona Fritsche in the autumn of last year. Since then, the technical programming of the online game has been taken care of by the SDD partner SHINE2Europe. Currently, the SDD game is in the first revision phase and will soon be ready to be tested in international workshops.

If you are interested in the topics of Hate Speech and discrimination, you are welcome to take a look at our previous project results, such as the compendium on the topic of hate speech and possible interventions and coping strategies. The SDD game is expected to be freely available online in April. Stay tuned!

The Characters of the SDD game

The SDD Game Development

Jonas Bernitt,  AFEdemy, Academy on Age-Friendly Environments in Europe B. V.

A key outcome of SDD (Smart for Democracy and Diversity) is an online game that shows learners the complexities of discrimination. The game content is based on real experiences that were identified in interviews during the beginning of the project (See Post: Writing of the Scenes for the SDD Educational game). The learners should experience how different forms of discrimination and hate speech are expressed subliminally in everyday life and what influence this has on the people affected.      

The Content

In the story of the game, the player is a detective who has to prevent the planned theft of a painting in a museum. The theme of discrimination is revealed during the various interrogations of the detective investigation. During several interviews, different forms of discrimination in everyday life are shown through communication between the game characters. As a player, you can always decide between different reactions in these discussions, whereby the game dialogue adapts itself interactively to the decisions.

Learning with SDD

After the case is solved at the end of the plot, the game includes a reflection part in which all characters from the game situations give feedback on the player’s decisions and reactions. This is intended to encourage the players to think about everyday discrimination in the long term.

In conjunction with the game, also a workshop curriculum will be published for trainers and facilitators. The whole package can be used to create playful workshops in various educational environments, like schools. In this way, SDD can help to raise awareness for discrimination and hate speech in day-to-day life.

Development process

At the beginning of the development process, a storyboard was created that ultimately defined the game locations and characters. On this basis, the graphic design was carried out by the designer Leona Fritsche in the autumn of last year. Since then, the technical programming of the online game has been taken care of by the SDD partner SHINE2Europe. Currently, the SDD game is in the first revision phase and will soon be ready to be tested in international workshops.

If you are interested in the topics of Hate Speech and discrimination, you are welcome to take a look at our previous project results, such as the compendium on the topic of hate speech and possible interventions and coping strategies. The SDD game is expected to be freely available online in April. Stay tuned!