Prisoner’s Cinema is a narrative-driven, expressive game being developed by a student team at Carnegie Mellon University. It conveys to players the subjective sensation of living a life subdued by insomnia, and that evokes from players an empathetic response. Regarding empathy, we want players unfamiliar with feelings of alienation to gain an understanding of how an affliction like insomnia can impact the sufferer physically, mentally, and emotionally, and we want players who have experienced or are experiencing the existential, societal ramifications of sickness to understand that they are not alone. We’re creating a first-person game with three distinct gameplay modes: exploration, conversation, and condensed, instanced interaction opportunities we’ve designated “mini-experiences.” Through each mode, we will exhibit to players how insomnia’s pall can dramatically complicate even life’s most mundane exercises, and players will be forced to endure the resultant consequences.
