Humanitas | Gameplaywright

I got a mass e-mail the other day putting out the word that nominations are open for the annual Humanitas prizes, which are awarded to screenwriters working in both film and television, to “encourage, stimulate and sustain the nation’s screenwriters in their humanizing task, and to give them the recognition they deserve.”

According to the Humanitas web site…

Prizes are awarded each year for stories which:

affirm the dignity of the human person

probe the meaning of human life

enlighten the use of human freedom

reveal to each person the common humanity of every other person, to [sic] that love may come to permeate the human family and help liberate, enrich and unify human society

I ask you, how great is that?

But better than that, I ask you this: What game have you played this year that affirmed the dignity of the human person, probed the meaning of human life, enlightened the use of human freedom, or revealed to each person the common humanity of every other person?

Will and I haven’t got $10,000 or a trophy to award, but maybe calling out such work would encourage, stimulate, and sustain a few game designers doing some good work.

4 Comments

Seth Ben-Ezra on February 13, 2009 at 9:55 pm

Grey Ranks by Jason Morningstar

Bexley on February 14, 2009 at 9:34 pm

Fallout 3.

No, seriously.

Betsy on February 17, 2009 at 9:08 am

Portal did this, to some extent, although it mostly did so by counterexample, as one marveled at the complete perversion of humanity in GlaDOS.

It seems strange to say it, but the Battlestar Galactica game accomplished at least some of those goals to me — highlighting what it is that people really need to survive, and how people help or thwart those needs. It also, incidentally, gave me a heck of a lot more sympathy for the characters on BSG.

But it makes sense to me that this is something games should do, and something they often don’t. In fact, I remember a bunch of people mocking the (admittedly, highly fluffy) option in the Bella Sara kids card game that had as its objective, basically, “read the card and find the beauty inside you.” It’s not exactly striking game design, but there’s much to be said for it nonetheless. It seems to me that there is a lot of potential for challenging games to meet these goals. Good to shine a light on it.

Jeff Tidball on February 17, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Bella Sara is a really interesting game to bring up in this context, because as you say, “there’s a lot to be said for it nonetheless.”

I know next to nothing about Bella Sara as a game, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds to me like it falls down as a game—if it does, in fact, fall down— because there’s no game there. There’s nothing that the players do in between “read the card” and “find the beauty.”

Seth Ben-Ezra on February 13, 2009 at 9:55 pm

Grey Ranks by Jason Morningstar
Bexley on February 14, 2009 at 9:34 pm

Fallout 3.

No, seriously.
Betsy on February 17, 2009 at 9:08 am

Portal did this, to some extent, although it mostly did so by counterexample, as one marveled at the complete perversion of humanity in GlaDOS.

It seems strange to say it, but the Battlestar Galactica game accomplished at least some of those goals to me — highlighting what it is that people really need to survive, and how people help or thwart those needs. It also, incidentally, gave me a heck of a lot more sympathy for the characters on BSG.

But it makes sense to me that this is something games should do, and something they often don’t. In fact, I remember a bunch of people mocking the (admittedly, highly fluffy) option in the Bella Sara kids card game that had as its objective, basically, “read the card and find the beauty inside you.” It’s not exactly striking game design, but there’s much to be said for it nonetheless. It seems to me that there is a lot of potential for challenging games to meet these goals. Good to shine a light on it.
Jeff Tidball on February 17, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Bella Sara is a really interesting game to bring up in this context, because as you say, “there’s a lot to be said for it nonetheless.”

I know next to nothing about Bella Sara as a game, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds to me like it falls down as a game—if it does, in fact, fall down— because there’s no game there. There’s nothing that the players do in between “read the card” and “find the beauty.”