Play to find out more about life in an oppressive regime

DEVELOPERS UPDATE: This game is still in development. If you think you've found a bug, please let us know by entering "BUG"! In case you get stuck, just type /restart to try again.

Life in Berlin is suffocating: Secret police and traitors are everywhere. No more discussing politics or checking news online. An authoritarian regime rules in parts of Europe since the millennium bug caused extensive power blackouts and unrest. You’ve befriended Alissa and Mia, two freedom activists from Berlin at a conference. Now, Mia has disappeared. You live in a free zone with the internet at your disposal. Answer Alissa’s call for help in your chat and find Mia. #freedomisntfree

 

Let's play

Play on Facebook Messenger: m.me/PLAY.freedomisntfree.DW

Play on Telegram: t.me/Alissa_DWbot

Freedom isn’t free is a bot-based text adventure; a game to be played on messenger apps such as Telegram and Facebook Messenger. The player enters a chat and is asked for help in solving tasks such as finding the best route to a meeting place. Players research for information online – something which their chat partner can’t do due to living in an unfree society. Whilst playing, the user gains an understanding of the restraints and difficulties their chat partner faces due to the reign of the repressive regime. A chat bot with an artificial intelligence system drives the conversation. Its machine learning algorithm allows the bot to improve its conversational skills with each playing experience.

 

Information transfer in Gaming

Do you know #BlackLivesMatter or #Metoo? Raising awareness is a vital first step in overcoming human rights violations. Free access to unbiased information is another key component. Information helps empower people around the globe. 

 

Unbiased information for free minds

Deutsche Welle (DW) provides journalistic content in 32 languages, giving people worldwide the opportunity to form their own opinions. DW aims to foster a peaceful, stable global community. Therefore DW reporting often focuses on topics such as freedom and human rights.

Beyond journalistic reporting a game is a way to get people emotionally involved and interested.  Playing a game provides an interactive learning experience. The player tries, makes experiences and also fails. This provides a better understanding of complex issues than merely consuming information. So called serious games aim to entertain and convey difficult topics such as death and mourning or the Third Reich. 

To create a serious game on a small budget a small team of journalists from Deutsche Welle collaborated with the gaming experts at the DE:HIVE Game Hub at Berlin's HTW - University of Applied Sciences.

 

Play Matters

The game lab DE:HIVE at the HTW Berlin combines research, teaching and entrepreneurship. Researchers, founders and students work on the topic of games and their social and artistic perspectives. Funded as part of the cross:play project, the gaming experts from DE:Hive were able to work on the messenger game with the editors of DW. How can language-based interaction formats be used in journalistic work? That was one of the questions the team wanted to answer using the example of this messenger game.

 

 

Freedom isn't free

A DW game in cooperation with the DE:HIVE Game Hub of the HTW Berlin, funded as part of the cross:play project by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team:

Philip Kretschmer (Lead game developer & producer): Freelance journalist working for DW Digital 

Lenja Kaufmann (Game developer): Freelance game developer & programmer 

Anna-Lena Klapdor (Script & worldbuilding): Script writer and story developer 

Wafaa Albadry (Script & worldbuilding): DW journalist 

Maximilian Warsinke (Game developer): Creative assistant Game Design at HTW Berlin 

Stefanie Suren (Executive producer):  Head of DW Digital

Contact: 

DW Producer-Team (freedomisntfree@dw.com)
HTW/cross:play: Anna Hentschel (anna.hentschel@htw-berlin.de)