Against All Odds
Against All Odds is a refugee simulation game created by the UNHCR. You can play it here: http://www.playagainstallodds.com/. Today is World Refugee Day, so tell someone you know to play the game and learn about the refugee situation world wide.
Our intern, Blake, played it recently, and here’s her reflection.
A fully armed officer shoves a paper and pen before me. “Do you give up the right to vote?” NO, I mark. I value my democratic rights, thank you very much. A massive fist bludgeons my face, staining my paper crimson. “Is homosexuality a crime?” I check NO again. Wasn’t gay marriage just deemed legal in California? More blood. Alright, perhaps there’s a pattern here. “I promise to never spread information forbidden by the government.” Yes? Phew. No reward, but no violent upswing, either. Interrogated further, I agree to renounce my faith, discontinue speaking in my native tongue, and assert the police have treated me well.
Okay, so this isn’t technically happening to me, per se. I’m playing Against All Odds, a virtual reality game created by UNHCR to mimic what life’s like for refugees. Though my artificial entity receives the blows, my physical self’s emotions are fully engrossed. It’s just a computer game, I try to remind myself, though it’s hard not to internalize events on the screen.In the next scenario, I haphazardly flee with only a few belongings. Despite successfully crossing the border, I make dire sacrifices. When my best friend neglects to bring his identification along, for instance, I’m forced to decide between getting caught at the checkpoint or leaving him behind. I find myself in a philosophical conundrum. Is one’s life the same without friends? For the sake of strategy, I choose to abandon my comrade, but I don’t know what I’d do if this were real.
Eventually I arrive at an intake center where an interpreter helps me adjust. Surely, things will be easier from here, I think. Wrong. I’m humiliated in trying to determine my new classmates’ social cues, told I’m improperly dressed at my first job interview, and consistently overhear complaints about immigrants. Even my neighbors slam doors in my face, claiming they didn’t take chances with foreigners. So much for a warm American welcome…
I sit and stare at the screen for a moment after the game ends, thinking about the awful decisions I had to make to survive and the harsh reality of prejudice. I sincerely hope I’m never put in a similar situation. Real life generally isn’t as merciful as computer game designers allow.