I played PeaceMaker, a desktop and mobile game by Impact Games. It is a game simulating the conflict between the Israeli government and Palestine, where your goal is to achieve peace and bring about the two-state solution.
The game uses role play, putting the player in the position of either the Israeli Prime Minister or the Palestinian Authority President. It also engages the player in pretty sophisticated simulation-based play that is often tense and demands they make difficult decisions. The player has to balance sentiment from various groups within Israel, Palestine, and the rest of the world as they take various political actions that might encourage peace or might increase tensions and violence.
When I first saw the game, I imagined it would also aim at some behavioral change i.e. trying to get the player to engage in political action to support peace. However, achieving this outcome with a simulation game would be very difficult. Encouraging behavior change requires building self-efficacy, which relies on the play experience being clearly distinguished from real life. A game simulating a fictional conflict would be much more effective at achieving behavior change. Instead, the two desired outcomes the game seems to aim for are: (1) informing i.e educating the player about the history and nature of the conflict, and (2) building the player’s implicit skills for reasoning about what political policies might be effective.
The game leans into aesthetics of expression, narrative, and challenge. While a game about a political conflict seems like an unlikely avenue for self-expression, I found that there was a joy in having the agency to enact my political wishes in the game that was derived from the expression of my political identity. The game simulates real-life group dynamics and gives the player a set of actions that realistically depicts the levers of power available to leaders in the conflict. This creates a dynamic where the player can see how various groups are reacting to their decisions. I felt like I was able to express my political identity by enacting policies in the game that I would support in the real world, and I got to see how those policies contributed to peace.
The game also creates a narrative for the player. The game’s use of real-life images and video of the conflict, as well as its dramatic score, creates an immersive dynamic that supports the narrative aesthetic.
Finally, the game presents a challenge to the player. The player’s actions might increase or decrease the support of various groups. Gaining the support of the Palestinian Public, and the Israeli public is necessary to win the game. Furthermore, various other groups like militants, radicals, government bodies, and foreign powers all also affect the game world. Balancing the interests of various groups is quite difficult, and the player does not always know what the outcome of a particular action will be. I had to carefully think through all of my actions and strategize effectively to succeed while minimizing violence.
Altogether PeaceMaker is a deeply thoughtful game about a decades-long conflict. I really appreciated experiencing this game, especially in this political moment. It really highlighted for me what policies I can support in the interest of a lasting ceasefire.
