This article is the second of a two-part special. Click here for the first part.
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.
1. Unlocking the Power of Gamification
The issue in question has been tackled in many different ways that were tested and proven to not work. For example, reading or watching only encourages passive learning. The same goes for classroom lessons unless the educator is a skilled facilitator. Dialogue sessions may be a better approach but are not scalable and lack the participation of detractors.
Empathy is near impossible to teach or absorb passively. Empathy needs to be experienced, and empathy is not optional in our multicultural society.
Introducing a solution that is popular amongst the young and not so young – mobile games. Mobile games create an immersive and interactive experience, are infinitely scalable, and have exponential reach. Players can explore at one’s own pace, and do not face any awkwardness or social pressure to open up. Games encourage activity, and can also bridge online and real-world conversations.
More importantly, games can capture a tremendous amount of data that can be used wisely for follow-up analysis or research. People are more honest in a game compared to a real-life survey.
2. Leveraging Creative Writing and Interactive Fiction in Deliberate Product Design
The game was designed around the objective of the product, which is to enable players to empathise and experience realistic race-based scenarios. As such, unlike most games, there were no points, badges, or leaderboards.
As with real life, every path was designed to be ambiguous, and the game was intentionally void of winning or losing outcomes. Most crucially, every character was designed to be flawed but good. There were no heroes or villains in the game.
Creative writing was applied as a teaching tool to deal with difficult conversations and racial attitudes. The use of interactive fiction also created a safe space to illustrate quandaries that people may face without the fear of being judged, for example, the mixing of halal and non-halal cutlery. It is a medium for people to feel validated and understood.
3. Investing in Research
Research was critical in building credibility and defending against criticisms for To Be You. The team spent a good six months conducting quantitative and qualitative research such as surveys, focused group discussions, and one-on-one interviews.
The research paid off handsomely as it uncovered valuable insights and highlighted dilemmas faced by real people, such as whether one party should convert in an inter-faith relationship, and differences between faiths. It revealed many nuances and layers that were translated into specificities, which were crucial in making the game universal and relatable.
In addition, thorough research also provided the backing and validation for the team to push boundaries and not shy away from important content that is potentially incendiary or potentially misunderstood
4. Translating Research Insights into Stories
In selecting the writers for each character, To Be You tried to ensure that the writer had the same ethnicity and background as the character. But no writer can possibly have the exact same background.
As a form of safeguard, a sensitivity reader was assigned to each character. The sensitivity reader’s role was to ensure that the tone and voice of the character were accurate. On top of that, an ethics team member checked back each incident that was written to ensure its accuracy and detect any blindspots. While the story was creative fiction, it had to be accurate and respectful of the research and interviewees.
5. Illustrating the Characters Accurately
Representation in game art is highly visual. There is only one shot to get it right, hence all the details had to be captured accurately.
When writers finished writing the script, they had to create a visual reference guide. The guide stated what the character looked like or what the writer imagined the character to be, right down to the articles of clothing.
It was also difficult to find illustrators of the same background. Hence all hands had to be on deck, with the sensitivity readers also contributing to the debates on character illustrations.
6. Adhering to Ethics
Just as important, if not more important, was the integration of ethics into every decision.
Interviewers had the responsibility to protect the interviewees. Researchers had the responsibility to ensure the stories are rightfully represented throughout the storyline and art. The research team as a whole had to translate research into insights, ensure the writing team was adequately informed of the issues to be addressed and vet the scripts.
Ethics was such a critical and essential dimension that the research team was named Research and Ethics. The Research and Ethics Team Lead was also conferred veto powers to act as a voice of reason in case the project failed to realise that a decision was potentially disrespectful.
The secret recipe for success in solving sensitive and controversial problems lies in understanding and respecting the sensitivities and controversies, and representing them accurately with nuance.
From the start to the end, from literary art to visual art, To Be You placed a great deal of care and attention to details to ensure that the narratives and images were accurate, respectful, and representative portrayals.
Tune in to the podcast below for more elaboration by our invited guests, Zi Kun (Project Lead) and Desiree (Editor), on both Parts I and II.
Experience the potentially life-changing game at https://tobeyou.sg
