First Person Victim: Using Interactive Drama and Engagement to Create Awareness about the Consequences of War

Scientific and psychological studies claim a variety of triggers in video games with violent content may promote aggression. To oppose the violent behavior of players in these games, this paper will describe how the sources of aggression and first person shooter conventions have been exploited in the “First Person Victim” experience to create awareness about the consequences of war for civilians. The paper will also explain how our “Interactive Dramatic Experience Model” organizes the various events of the experience and mediates an emergent narrative by the use of the first person shooter form. The theme is communicated through the use of tragedy, and turns the roles around to let the participants encounter a realistic war-scenario while being confronted with ethical issues, by enacting the experience of being a victim of war. An evaluation of the implemented experience indicated that the participants were engaged in the experience, despite the tragic theme, and that they were able to acquire an understanding of the theme being mediated.