PRO-TRUTH SOCIETY // POST-TRUTH PARADISE
July - September 2021 | with support from Tetem
Pro-Truth Panopticon//Post-Truth Paradise is a virtual escape room game about Post-Truth Society.
It takes an optimistic approach to the dystopian narrative surrounding the post-truth narrative concerning conspiracy theories, fake news, synthetic media, propaganda, etc. Through my research on the mis/disinformation landscape, I imagined two possible utopias: the Pro-Truth Society built on collective fact-checking and the Post-Truth Paradise that, alternatively, focuses on the real perceivable consequences of our actions and beliefs.
Players of the game start with looking for ‘truth’ then move towards navigating complexity and uncertainty, helping them reflect on their relationship with the world and people around them.
By presenting two opposing utopias, players are invited to ask themselves, “Can they co-exist and should they?”
Throughout 2021, I struggled to maintain healthy relationships despite polarizing beliefs re: COVID-19 and politics.
The whole mis/disinformation landscape is ❤️🩹 painful to say the least. But I learned 2 things:
1. Though it’s important to reach a consensus about what we consider facts, they aren’t enough to change beliefs or create paradigm shifts in thinking.
2. It requires a lot of energy to stay vigilant towards our biases.
We live in a post-truth society. Through a game, I tried to imagine how it might be better.
Pro-Truth Society // Post-Truth Paradise was an escape room game (logic/reasoning puzzles >> relationship quests) set in an underground panopticon... in a planet occupied by two societies that emerged from the Infocalypse:
1. Pro-truth Society — where people believe that truth = peace. The architectural design of the panopticon encouraged them to collectively fact-check and hold each other accountable.
2. Post-truth Paradise — where people no longer fight over facts. They are comfortable navigating complexity and uncertainty. This is a society that understands we are all entangled; people simply focus on doing the next right thing for each other and the common good.
Game built on The Sandbox
