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Cost of Life: a life-in-Haiti sim
October 27, 2006 - by Ian Bogost

Cost of LifeGlobal Kids has launched Ayiti: The Cost of Life, a game about the challenges of everyday life in contemporary Haiti. The player must manage a small family, trying to make ends meet while providing a better education for the kids and avoiding illness and disaster. The game (developed by veteran casual game developers gameLab) has high production value and strategic depth. It feels a bit like Oregon Trail in its conception and play. I have only played once, so I'm not yet sure if certain strategies are doomed to failure (or if all are, which is a common design approach in such games), but it sure is hard. I can't remember how hard Oregon Trail felt back in the 80s, but I suppose it was pretty hard too.

After you play, you can discuss the game here. Raph Koster, who lived in Haiti during part of his youth while his mother worked for Unicef, has already weighed in there. Barry Joseph of Global Kids reports that associated lesson plans will be available on the game site in the coming days.



Comment from Barry Joseph on October 28, 2006

Ian, Thanks for helping to spread the word. Indeed, success IS indeed possible. To address that concern, we posted some images of what some might view as a successful game:

http://www.holymeatballs.org/2006/10/p4k_playing_ayiti_the_cost_of.html

Barry

Comment from Patrick on November 2, 2006

I play and write so you don't have to.


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