Games for Change, founded in 2004, aims to recognize and empower game makers who aim for real-world change with their games. In addition to the yearly Games for Change Awards, the nonprofit runs events, public arcades, design challenges and youth programs around the world.
Dot’s Home competed with 17 other finalists selected from the more than 400 games that were submitted this year. The game also won the Best Narrative Game award and was nominated for the categories of Best Civic Game and Most Significant Impact.
The Real Women of Gaming staff raised money for the creators of an amazing game called Dot’s Home who are a part of the The Rise Home Project. This single player game follows the journey of Dot as she travels through time to key moments in her family’s history.
The American dream myth is that wealth and prosperity is out there for everyone’s taking, and that the house with the white picket fence is accessible to all. But players in Dot’s Game are shown the obstacles faced by Black homebuyers in the U.S.
The makers of Dot’s Home frame games as a tool for empathy differently from much of the dominant discussion. Rather than relying on the idea that empathy is developed from a game allowing you to “walk a mile in somebody else’s shoes”, the Rise-Home team sees Dot’s Home as an opportunity to witness someone else’s experience.
