Race and religion; stereotype and prejudice.
Few brave men and women have dared to openly discuss these sensitive topics in Singapore’s delicate multi-racial society, let alone tackle these controversial issues head-on without fear of ruffling feathers. Yet the courageous hundred-odd volunteers behind To Be You did just that.
Arguably one of better.sg’s most successful projects yet, To Be You is a free experimental role-playing mobile game that uses interactive fiction to cultivate empathy.
Players role-play different characters from diverse backgrounds, such as Nadia who is a Malay-Muslim girl who has a crush on a Chinese-Christian boy. Players encounter these characters’ challenges and dilemmas, make life choices on behalf of the character, and subsequently experience the outcomes of these choices.
One of the winners of the Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth’s Mission: Unite Hackathon in 2020, To Be You reached over 1,500 players within two days of its launch on Racial Harmony Day in 2021. It was featured in many media articles, including The Straits Times, The Business Times, Tamil Murasu, SG Magazine, and more.
In less than a year, To Be You recorded over 20,000 play-throughs from more than 5,000 players, and has an engagement rate of 10%, more than 20 times the YouTube benchmark of 0.5%.
Ahead of To Be You’s first anniversary on 21 Jul 2022, we go behind the scenes to uncover the secrets of their success in this two-part special, including a podcast with To Be You’s Project Lead, Lim Zi Kun, and Editor, Desiree Khng.
In this second part, we focus on To Be You’s approach to the gamification of a controversial problem. Do also tune in to the podcast at the end of the page.
