SurThrive is an exploration project working with CMU’s Human Interaction Institute to develop a game about disaster. Our team was prompted to apply one method out of the four given approaches to achieve transformation through our game: cognitive dissonance, identification with characters, reflection, and metaphor. Metaphor turned out to become our choice, and based on this principle, the project direction evolved. As we delved further into the multiplicity of metaphor, we decided that experimenting around metaphors in gameplay is a more interesting and inspiring goal to pursue. Under the consent of our client, we have designed an experience that demonstrates various facets of metaphor using techniques like montage, juxtaposition, collage, levels of abstraction–hoping to display a spectrum of metaphors in games.
Along with our findings and documentation, our development process is also researched by the HCII team. They will test if our game reaches transformation successfully, and use our findings in metaphors as guidelines for building transformational games in the future. They will also see if we as developers transformed in building a piece around a specific topic.
In summary, our team aims to:
- Create an artistic experience that displays a spectrum of metaphors, built around the topic of disaster
- Analyze each designs, explain the reason why or why not the message get across.
- Summarize our findings of do’s and don’t’s in taking an artistic/alternative route for future ETC projects