Twine – the UNHCR
The final prototype for the Twine about the UNHCR is also available in the attached files. Compared to the draft, this final version has a few improvements, mostly in the layout.
Game Mechanics
The player is introduced as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and gets a budget of $8 billion, while there are currently 23 million refugees. Every quarter of the year the player gets the opportunity to either lobby with countries to host more refugees or get more funding. Based on a randomized algorithm the player is either more or less successful in doing their chosen action. At the end of each quarter, $1.5 billion is deducted from the budget for continuous projects, and the number of refugees increases by 7 million as a result of ongoing unrest. Throughout the game there is a chance that different crises present themselves, increasing the pressure on the UNHCR. If a player is lucky these do not happen, however, if the player is unlucky even multiple crises can occur. Overall, it is quite hard to both stay within budget and host enough refugees, which is just like the current real situation.
Notes
The current game is not an accurate representation of the current world situation with its numbers of refugees, budget, and consequences of actions. For future improvement, more thorough research could be done to increase the accuracy of the game. Furthermore, the game could be improved by creating a smoother, less repetitive narrative. Also, many more factors could be included, like more specific situations that need attention, which countries to focus on with lobbying and more detailed action plans. Additionally, improvements could be made to make the game more engaging, by adding sounds, other characters, a more interesting layout, and maybe even interactive components like a map.