Introduction
For this assignment, I explored two very different games: Spent (by McKinney & Urban Ministries of Durham) and Gods Will Be Watching (by Deconstructeam). I played each game for around thirty minutes, and both experiences forced me to make tough decisions under pressure, but in very different ways.
🟨 Game 1: Spent
Spent places you in the role of someone living on a limited budget with only $1,000 to survive an entire month. Every choice matters — from whether to pay a medical bill, to skipping a meal, to taking on extra work.
Gameplay Experience:
I tried to balance caring for my family, keeping my car legal, and covering surprise costs while stretching every dollar. I chose affordable groceries, thrift-store shoes, and often skipped extras like babysitters or lottery pools. I helped my mom get her medication and fought a speeding ticket in court to save money. Still, medical bills, pet care, car repairs, and a late-month accident steadily chipped away at my balance. By Day 27, a $550 car-damage bill wiped out my last savings, leaving me with $0 before the month ended.
Reflections:
What struck me most was how quickly my money disappeared, even when I tried to make careful decisions. The game highlights the reality that “good choices” are not always available when resources are scarce. I found myself empathizing with people who face these struggles daily, realizing how stressful it is to constantly juggle needs and risks.
🟨 Game 2: Gods Will Be Watching
Gameplay Experience:
I started with the opening hostage-negotiation scenario, and it immediately pulled me into a tense balancing act. I had to advance the hack while keeping hostages calm and the guards at bay. One misjudged warning shot sent panic through the room, and I nearly lost control before finishing the hack just in time. Later chapters only raised the stakes: rationing antidotes in a frozen cave and trying to keep morale high on a hostile planet. Each success felt precarious, as though one wrong choice could doom everyone.
Reflections:
The game was deliberately stressful. Many of the decisions had no “right” answer, and sometimes I felt like failure was inevitable. While frustrating, this design forces players to reflect on sacrifice, leadership, and the moral weight of their choices.
🔍 Comparison & Takeaways
Playing both games back-to-back revealed how games can teach through different kinds of pressure. Spent is simple, direct, and emotionally impactful because it relates to real-world poverty. Gods Will Be Watching is more abstract but pushes players to think about ethics and survival in extreme situations.
In terms of learning, I think Spent is more accessible for a wide audience and directly tied to social awareness. Gods Will Be Watching demands patience and reflection but is powerful for exploring moral ambiguity. Together, they demonstrate the range of what games can do — from raising empathy to testing values.
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