About
Type: Game
Cost: Free
Platform(s): Mobile, Web
Description
“Fort McMurray, the heart of the Canadian oil industry, is the scene for a groundbreaking fusion of documentary and video game. The creators, web pioneers NFB and Arte with contributions by journalists from Süddeutsche.de and Le Monde, put you in their own shoes. Their mission is your mission: to unravel the interests that lurk behind the appearance of success, wealth and happiness. “Discover the city. Interrogate its protagonists. Control its destiny.” You walk like a detective through Fort McMurray, recreated as a virtual environment. During your wanderings, you can watch interviews with the Canadian environment minister and the chairman of energy giant Total. Lesser folk also have their say, like the owner of a strip club and a spokesman for an action group: “They call it development. We call it destruction.” Data visualizations of odometers that go in the red illustrate that it’s five minutes to midnight. What is the fate of McMurray? Will it keep descending into a spiral of oil dollars and greed, or is there more space for pine forests, rivers and snowy mountains? The choice is up to you, as you stand with your feet in the mud in this web documentary – just like journalists, politicians, spokesmen and policymakers.” – Fort McMoney
Ryan Clement is a PhD candidate in the University of Waterloo’s Department of English Language and Literature and a researcher with the University of Waterloo Games Institute. He researches emergent narrative through games and possible applications. He is also a tabletop game designer.
