Running home — A serious game

Summary

The majority of women have encountered some form of street harassment. As a result, women tend to feel scared and uncomfortable when walking alone on the street, especially at night. This impacts their movements and whereabouts. To raise awareness about this issue, the game ‘Racing Home’ was designed. The game’s purpose is to raise awareness about the consequences of street intimidation and harassment. Racing Home is a realistic VR multiplayer game targeted at boys aged twelve to eighteen. A younger audience is targeted in the hopes of preventing street harassment rather than unlearning poisonous habits. The player is randomly assigned to either a male or female character. The player has no say in the selection process. The second player is automatically assigned the character of the other gender. The goal is to race against each other and get home as quickly and safely as possible. However, if you play as the female character, you will encounter obstacles such as narrow streets and creepy people, which will slow you down or even force you to take a detour. As a result, the woman will always arrive home last and lose the game.

Story & theme

The story starts at a party. It’s late, and it’s time for you to go home. You say goodbye to the people still partying, and then you race your friend home. The goal of the game is to get home as quickly and safely as possible. Most importantly, you must be faster than your opponent. You can take different routes, where you can encounter various obstacles. As a female character, you will face more and different obstacles than the male character.

In the end, the male character will arrive home first and win the game. A short video clip will play that reflects on the experience: women will tell the players that what is depicted in the game happens in real life and share more about how street intimidation and harassment affect their lives and choices. In this way, the game experience is additionally linked to a real-life experience.