Real Lives is a “life simulator” that puts you in the shoes of someone, somewhere in the world. Who you are, where you’re born, and to who are based on real life statistics, as well as the random events that may happen to you. The interface is quite simple, the most prominent feature being a giant map in the center of the screen. Everything else is text and icons and buttons.
The most important button is the “Advance an Age” button, which you will be using to move forward in your life. As you get older, various choices and options will be presented to you – everything from schooling to finances to who you date and marry and have (or not have) children with. Of course, what you’re able to do depends heavily on where you start out, and at any moment tragedy can strike.
The game, as simple as it is, is incredibly compelling, and very sobering. In my first game, I was quite fortunate, having been born in a middle class family in Slovakia. I died at age 61 of rheumatoid arthritis as a well-to-do police captain with three healthy daughters. In my latest game, however, I’ve been born as a girl to an extremely poor family in rural China, and things are going to be difficult. Being beaten, raped, arrested, or contracting a fatal disease is not uncommon. It’s brutal.
As I said above, the game is based on real life statistics, and as you’re playing you can view those statistics as each event occurs. If you get food poisoning in Slovakia (as I did quite a few times), you can see statistics about what percentage of people like you living in Slovakia get food poisoning each year. The context in which the information is presented makes it so much less dry than if you read it in a periodical.
Real Lives works on a lot of levels: as a game, a simulation, and an educational tool. It also has the incredible potential to increase awareness and human empathy. So it wins pretty hard, all around!
The demo (available as a direct link from this Something Awful thread) is free to play for as long as you like, although if you want access to the character creator, you have to pay $25 for the registered version (via the first link). And here’s a thread I started on our forums for you to post your own “Real Lives.” Everyone should post their first!
(Source: Soldat Movies)