Without Aid
April 2021
Turning gamers into donors.
Video game design
Summary
‘Without Aid’ is a video game that puts players in the shoes of a family in extreme poverty, revealing just how difficult it can be to survive on less than $2 per day – the reality for over 700 million people living in extreme poverty. Players must make incredibly difficult decisions as they allocate their limited resources to care for their family.
This year, D&AD set a brief for designers to create a video game that is ‘a force for good’. In response to this brief, I worked with a collaborator to create Without Aid in 1 week.
The challenge
For the first time in twenty years, extreme poverty is on the rise.
By the end of 2021, 150 million more people will have been pushed into extreme poverty1… bringing the total to 700 million people who must live on less than $2 per day.
Living on so little income is incredibly difficult, and causes a lot of unnecessary suffering.
Extreme poverty is almost impossible to escape without aid. The problem is self-perpetuating, as families cannot afford to invest in their long-term futures, and is exacerbated by weak local governments, war, climate change and inequality.
Despite the enormous scale of this problem, it is relatively neglected by foreign aid spending and the media.
Thankfully, there is a simple but highly-effective solution: direct cash transfers.
Generous donors from anywhere in the world can make a donation to GiveDirectly, who will transfer it directly to the families who need it the most. The money is given freely, with no conditions.
Families that receive aid tend to spend this money on health, education or infrastructure, all of which allow them to escape the cycle of poverty.
For a number of reasons, even a small amount of aid can have a huge impact on a family living in extreme poverty.
It reduces burdens just enough for families to break the cycle: to send 1 child to school, or treat an illness, or start a small business, or purchase equipment. Once the cycle of extreme poverty is broken, families can begin on an upward spiral – building savings, making investments, acquiring stable work and contributing to their communities.
GiveDirectly publishes all of its data, and has proven to be a highly cost-effective way to tackle extreme poverty.
All that is required to make this happen is a small act of generosity.
The video game
Not designed to play on mobile – please view on a computer.
If you would like to leave comments / feedback, view this game on Itch.
‘Without Aid’ is a video game that puts players in the shoes of a family in extreme poverty, revealing just how difficult it can be to survive on less than $2 per day – the reality for over 700 million people living in extreme poverty. Players must make incredibly difficult decisions as they allocate their limited resources to care for their family.
However, players are eventually provided with a cash transfer from GiveDirectly, with enough funds for them to purchase all of the things that they have been unable to buy for so long. This small but unexpected package of aid is enough to turn the tables around and help the player to build their way out of extreme poverty.
The trailer
Talking about the trailer…
Process images
The report
Credits:
Created by Taylor Jones & Matt Anderson
Assets used in game / trailer:
Typeface – TooMuchInk (link)
Ambience sounds (link)
Click sound effect (link)
Other SFX provided by Freesound.org, CC0 Licence