As if reality scenarios weren’t enough in numbers, a video game has been created to reproduce the refugees’ parcours as announced in the communications media in the last weeks. As a result of the ongoing flux of refugees from the Middle East to the European shores, especially consequently to the Syrian Civil War, the new video game ambition is to make people understand the refugees’ current situation. It could further be argued that the creators of the video game aim to target people and to introduce them into this complicated world, in order to make them sensitive to the matter and give them the tools to decide whether it is morally correct, or not, to reject these refugees after their long and dangerous journey.
Cloud Chasers is a game in which two main characters appear to reflect the entire range of obstacles that a refugee father—Francisco— may face in his journey towards a “better country”, together with his daughter—Amelia. The player of the game leads them both through a set of deserts full of dangers and designed in certain conditions that get the player closer to reality. Such conditions could be the lack of water, feelings of desperation, the anxiety to protect the child, and the impotence of the refugees.
Moritz Zumbühl—a Swiss citizen from the Blindflug studio—, claims that the major objective has been to touch upon this current problem of difficult solution, to try and call upon awareness in the Western societies. Moritz and his team aimed to treat every kind of refugee with its due respect. “Cloud Chasers” will get out in the European market on October 15th, in 8 languages.
The bottom line of this game is to induce empathy amongst people. The reward is “a fantasy world” where water and food are abundant, and where the characters can feel safe.
