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In the News

April 15, 2009

Video games — a lighter side to the recession?

The average Joe and Jane can now get a feel for some of the pressures decision-makers are struggling with in the current recession, as they relate to layoffs.

“Layoff” is a new video game created by Dartmouth professor, Mary Flanagan, to expose “the outrages of the financial crisis and subsequent bailout.” It is a product of the Values at Play research project, which seeks to promote video games as tools to educate players about social issues.

The goal of “Layoff” is to fire as many employees as possible by assembling workers into groups of three. Workers represent blue collar and white collar positions. When grouped, the workers head to the unemployment line and are replaced by new employees who cannot be laid off.

In creating the game, Flanagan wanted to show the human cost of the financial crisis. Players have an opportunity to get to know the workers through character sketches that include names and ages as well as their hopes and fears.

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education