Woman in Big City is a critical play experience in which players are thrown into a dark Melbourne City setting, playing as a woman of colour, being subjective to constant discrimination. Dark play is heavily relied upon within the game, as well as its embedded, story-like narrative and tell-tale trope in which players choose the protagonist’s actions that then lead to either essentially a ‘good’ or ‘evil’ action, thus adjusting the story as the game goes.
By playing this game, players of all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds learn how to take calculated risks and grow accustomed to empathy and viewing the world through different perspectives, not only in Woman in Big City but also in real life.
By Jacklyn Matzaris and Shannon Coldrey