Ghost Hostel was made in partnership with Arcade Our Way and Dr. Renee Jackson whose research examined the participatory creation process of this game. The game was created in collaboration with a group of 15 girls aged 12 to 13. Dr Jackson's research investigates how games can be effectively used to create safe “identity workspaces” to help girls experiment with a leadership identity, and anchor girls’ learning in developing a sense of leadership purpose. The girls were led them through various exercises to establish the initial concept of the game as well as the themes they wanted to address: gender dynamics, female leadership and female empowerment. I then took on the project and used the output of their ideation sessions to create the game.
ABOUT THE GAME
The player plays as Violet, a young girl who lives and works in a run-down ghost hotel. The hotel deeply lacks leadership and she aches to improve the situation, but she is limited by her stubborn supervisor and her own shyness. Through various microgames, Violet leads the ghosts who live at the hotel into restoring it to its former glory.
Game development: Liane Decary-Chen
Illustrations: Marysa Antonakakis
