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CATEGORY : Game
ROLE : Game design, Research, Game development
Strangers is a text-based, retro-style RPG emerging directly from research into online gender-based violence (OGBV) and cyberfeminist theory. This project is not only an educational tool but an act of critical net art, designed to subvert the viral nature of online harm.
The research deeply analyzed the pathology of propagation in OGBV, the way harm spreads rapidly and decentralizedly, often mirroring a computer virus. This mechanism is exemplified by models like the 'Ring Virus' used in notorious online exploitation rings, where decentralized, hierarchical sharing maximizes victim damage and impunity.
Strangers precisely intervenes here. It reclaims the aesthetics of viruses and glitches —core concepts of '90s net art and cyberfeminist critique—to construct a counter-viral mechanism. By turning the act of 'sharing' (e.g., user stories, the game link itself) into an act of collective activism, the project subverts the harmful digital dissemination into an empowering, viral feminist narrative.
The choice of an interactive game format is central to the project’s theoretical grounding. A game is not simply consumed; it is performed, allowing for a direct, embodied experience of ambiguity and agency.
By navigating branching narratives and moral dilemmas, players directly engage with the complex psychological dimensions of OGBV—the hesitation, the choices, and the feeling of getting lost—that linear storytelling cannot capture. This application of net art format (interaction, hyperlinking, and participatory media) effectively translates complex theoretical understandings into a practical, accessible intervention within mainstream internet culture.
(The project was featured in an exhibition at the Schloss Fechenbach Museum.)
Strangers delivers an immersive experience using the Twine Engine, allowed research findings on warning signs and boundary setting to be directly applied within dynamic, choice-driven scenarios.
Social Extension: The Collective Voice Beyond the game, a key component was the @yourstories2023 Instagram campaign. This extension functions as a patchwork reconstruction of collective testimony. The campaign utilized the hyperlinking and fragmented structure of early net art, designing each post to mimic opening a digital file. This structure strategically gathered and rearranged fragmented personal stories, transforming the act of 'witnessing' online into a continuous, participatory act of communal healing and activism.
