Game Information
| Title | Perfection (student-created game) |
| Presenter(s) | Doris C. Rusch |
| Session | Conference Reception, Game Exhibition, and Poster Session |
| Time | Thursday, October 16, 7:00p-10:00p |
| Location | Ballroom |
| Format | Game Exhibition |
| Description | "Perfection" is one of four games that are part of the interactive documentary "For the Records" that deals with young adults and mental illness. "For the Records" aims to increase understanding of what it is like to struggle with mental disorders, particularly eating disorder ("Perfection"), OCD ("Into Darkness"), ADD ("It's for the Best") and bipolar disorder ("FLUCTuation"). I am submitting all four games separately.
"Perfection" is a game about the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. It plays with perceptions of beauty and perfection to enable an experiential understanding of why someone would starve themselves. The game's core metaphor is the body as garden. To align the player's perceptions with those of someone struggling with anorexia, the game suggests that the perfect garden is devoid of weeds and ugly creepers (= 'imperfect' body parts and unwanted feelings). The game challenges the player to 'reach Perfection'. The garden is enclosed by four walls and surrounded by a scary looking periphery that represents the fear of being judged, criticized or hurt by others. In the middle of the garden is a heart-shaped plant, representing life. The conflict of the game revolves around garden saturation. Watering the garden (=eating) increases its saturation. The weeds (=unwanted body parts) flourish and the numbers of creepers (= unwanted feelings) rise. Eliminating creepers by moving the mouse over them in a scrubbing motion (=exercising) decreases saturation, as does parching the garden (=starving yourself). In a de-saturated garden, weeds start to die but the heart-shaped plant suffers, too, and slowly loses its leaves. The plant is more robust than the weeds, though, encouraging a de-saturation behavior in the interest of reaching Perfection. The Perfection ending, though, is not the win ending after all, because Perfection cannot be obtained without also sacrificing the heart-plant. To win the game, the player has to keep her garden within an ideal saturation range (not too much and not too little) over a certain period of time (this represents adhering to an eating schedule), and to learn to accept that weeds and creepers are necessary components of a healthy life. The true win ending is 'Imperfection' ' a garden without protective walls, filled with all sorts of plants and insects. |