Escape Route X

Escape route X is the title of an educational multimedia and topical social game.
This game was developed in 2011 by me and artist Mark van Enk called ”Vlucht 050511” for Liberationday festival. Afterwards, I developed it into a complete board game. With the help of Codename Future, Emiel Sikkema and teacher Media Wisdom Wim Hilberdink and his students of SG Thorbecke Zwolle, I did research to optimize the game and to make it more attractive for young target groups.

There has been a lot of discussion of the influx of refugees in 2014/15. There seemed to be little understanding and a culture of fear. Unknown makes unloved is the saying and I think that this also applies here. The fear for the unknown and the lack of understanding about people’s motives to flee. This game tries to contribute to the understanding by letting the player, as it were, crawl into the refugee’s skin.

It is a challenging game. You make the flight from your (fictional) homeland to the Netherlands. This journey will not be comfortable and it is uncertain whether you will ever arrive. The players of this game will while playing get used to the frustrations and hardships that an average flight and hardships that the average refugee has to deal with before, during and after his ‘flight’.

This game can be used to give the player more insight into the refugee problems here and in the country of origin and can contribute to understanding and a more open attitude towards the newcomers.

Escape route X consists of 4 routes from 4 different areas: Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East.

The player takes on the character related to the region from which you depart.
The characters are: Chin Ho from North Korea (Asia), Ali Osman from Sudan (North Africa) Jimpa from Tibet (Asia) and Jamilah from Syrie (Middle East). The player travels by foot, by boat, by plane or by truck. The task is to travel via one of these routes as quickly and safely as to the Netherlands.
On their way, the players have to deal with all kinds of setbacks such as corruption, bad luck, violence, and even life-threatening situations.

This game is still looking for a publisher!