''Against All Odds'' is an

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...

designed to teach players about the plight of refugees. Originally released in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

in 2005, the game has been translated into several languages, the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

edition of which was released in November 2007. Initial funding for the project came from a grant of NOK 1 million from Statoil to UNHCR's Baltic and Nordic regional office, with the aim of developing a project to reach young people and promote integration in the region. UNHCR sought advice from

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2 ...

regarding

interactive media Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user's actions by presenting content such as text, moving image, animation, video and audio. Since its early conception, various f ...

for schools, and discussed ideas with the

Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training ( no, Utdanningsdirektoratet, UDIR) is Norwegian government agency under the Ministry of Education and Research. The Directorate is responsible for the development of kindergarten, primary and ...

and the Swedish Integration Board. UNHCR decided to proceed the project as a web-based game, a medium which could reach a large number of young people, require no distribution costs and minimal marketing costs. The game was aimed at 12 - 15 year olds, an age where people began to develop ideas regarding refugees and similar issues. In ''Against All Odds'', the player takes the role of a refugee, and plays through twelve stages - depicting his persecution and flight from his native country, through to eventual integration into a foreign country as an

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

. Complementing the game is a facts repository detailing the history of asylum, and refugee testimonies. A teacher's guide section provides discussion points and lesson ideas for the classroom. The game takes approximately 45 minutes to play through, coinciding with the typical length of a lesson. Reception has been positive, prompting translations into multiple languages from its original Swedish. In 2006, the German edition of the game, ''LastExitFlucht'' was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Multimedia and e-Business in the Knowledge and Learning category. The jury praised the game for building understanding, empathy and concern for the plight of refugees in the player.

References

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External links

Against All Odds official website
(Archive
link
2005 video games Humanitarian video games Flash games United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Works about the United Nations Video games developed in Sweden