The portfolio video submitted as an individual file showed several complete go-throughs of the game with different endings, while this video below displays the structure of the game’s working flow:
Basic Profile
The game is named “Fertility, Crime, and Economy”. It is a rogue-like game in which the players can approve or reject random different policies to change the data and people’s lives. The players’ aim is to keep the birth rate above the red line and the crime rate below the red line. Failing to keep proper rates or finishing all the policies will lead to different endings. While dealing with the policies, the players can check the current data in line graphs, as well as new events happening to people and news of the whole society.
There are hints in the menu scene as well as animation of the clickable objects as a simple onboarding and tutorialisation.
The games Reigns, Plague Inc., Paper, Please!, and Beholder, as well as the movie, The Handmaid’s Tale, are referenced.
Numerical design is mainly based on structural functionalism in sociology.
For some of the policies, news and people’s stories, materials are drawn from real happened events.
Things that were planned to finish but finally left for further improvement
1. The localization part is designed for the players to be able to change anytime while playing the game, but due to the time limit, we didn’t finish the controlling part. The texts of the English version need polishment as well, to decrease grammar problems and to embed them better in the western culture.
2. Some of the policies are designed to have logical relationships except the random choosing. For example, only if the player chooses to fund the development of artificial reproduction, it is possible to promote the general use of artificial wombs later after a piece of news saying “Artificial Wombs are Coming!”. Besides, these logical relationships relate to other two endings that once arranged, in which the players will separately achieve a high technology government than can produce human babies without women’s uterus, as well as a high centralization government applying repressive rules to citizens.
3. Adjust the positions of several sprites and texts to make them in good composing.
4. Literature reference, including real happened events in comparison to those events in-game, as well as supported academic theories, of the game, is planned to be added in the menu scene for the players to click and check.
Reference
Durkheim, É. Suicide: A Study in Sociology (1897). (Chinese version)
Giddens, A. Introduction to Sociology (1991). (Chinese version)
Parsons, T. The Structure of Social Action (1937). (Chinese version)
Mills, C.W. The Sociological Imagination (1959). (Chinese version)
Herbert Spencer’s theory of population.
Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows (2022) Politico. Accessible at: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473
America’s Abortion Quandary (2022) Pew Research Center. Accessible at: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/05/06/americas-abortion-quandary/
Woman Who Attempted Coat Hanger Abortion (2017) Time. Accessible at: https://time.com/4632758/woman-coat-hanger-abortion-anna-yocca-released/
Valenti, J. Abortion by wire coat hanger is not a thing of the past in America. (2017) The Guardian. Accessible at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/15/wire-coat-hanger-abortion-stories-united-states
Abortion rights march: Thousands attend rallies across US. (2021) BBC. Accessible at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58774262
Ashworth, P. Statistics show decline in marriage rates, and increase in age at marriage. (2022). Church Times. Accessible at: https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/27-may3-june/news/uk/statistics-show-decline-in-marriage-rates-and-increase-in-age-at-marriage
WION. Gravitas: Artificial wombs are coming! (2022) Accessible at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V58tbHAaJNM
Shanti, D. ‘We were human beings’: UK families seek apology over historic forced adoptions (2022) Accessible at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/20/we-were-human-beings-uk-families-seek-apology-over-historic-forced-adoptions
Stern, S.W. America’s Forgotten Mass Imprisonment of Women Believed to Be Sexually Immoral (2019) Accessible at: https://www.history.com/news/chamberlain-kahn-act-std-venereal-disease-imprisonment-women#:~:text=Under%20the%20’American%20Plan%2C’,for%20no%20reason%20at%20all.&text=Images%2FGetty%20Images-,Under%20the%20’American%20Plan%2C’%20women%20could%20be%20detained%20for,for%20no%20reason%20at%20all.
WIKIPEDIA. Family planning policies of China. Accessible at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_planning_policies_of_China
Davidson, H. China divorces drop 70% after controversial ‘cooling off’ law (2021) Accessible at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/18/china-divorces-drop-70-after-controversial-cooling-off-law
BBC NEWS. Peru forced sterilisations case reaches key stage (2021) Accessible at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-56201575
Rivard, L. America’s Hidden History: The Eugenics Movement (2014) Accessible at: https://www.nature.com/scitable/forums/genetics-generation/america-s-hidden-history-the-eugenics-movement-123919444/