Abstract
This paper discusses the creation of an escape room on older adult mistreatment (or elder abuse). The game, titled Sandra's Keys, invited players to engage with the story of a fictional older woman dealing with a situation of abuse through a series puzzles. The escape room sought to bring players into a conversation about the different forms of elder abuse, and to give them a greater understanding of their role as bystanders and of the potential ways to intervene. The escape room game was co-designed by researchers, a group of older adults activists in Montreal and a social worker. This paper focuses on how we made this game and the methodological principles and values behind the design process. This design process is grounded in Participatory Action Research and is inspired by the writings of radical theatre activist Augusto Boal. One of its aims was to consolidate long standing relationships between the members of the design team around a common social justice goal. We map out the potential of games to become tools in the ‘arsenal’ of community-based activism and to playfully contradict dominant societal norms related to age. Finally, we introduce the term ‘social justice game’ to assert the connections between activism, social justice and games studies.
Highlights
Escape rooms are a sub-genre of immersive ‘analog’ problem-solving games that have become popular over the past decade with younger adults (Boshci 2016; Nicholson 2016)
Respecting Elders: Communities Against Abuse (RECAA) is a collective of older adult activists from Montreal tackling elder abuse and the specific challenges faced by seniors who have recently immigrated to Québec and/or who are from racialized backgrounds
Forum theatre, when understood as a set of practices designed to engage with the diverse publics of various classes and education levels in non-hierarchical ways, has helped us to understand the potential of contemporary escape rooms to engage with a wide range of audiences on serious matters with societal resonance
Summary
Escape rooms are a sub-genre of immersive ‘analog’ problem-solving games that have become popular over the past decade with younger adults (Boshci 2016; Nicholson 2016). Escape rooms usually are experienced in teams; groups of players are tasked with solving thematically rendered puzzles and riddles within a specific time limit. In 2019, we collaborated with a group of older adults in Montreal to create an escape room on the topic of elder abuse or as it is known in our local context ‘older adult mistreatment’. Respecting Elders: Communities Against Abuse (RECAA) is a collective of older adult activists from Montreal tackling elder abuse and the specific challenges faced by seniors who have recently immigrated to Québec and/or who are from racialized backgrounds. RECAA and CREGÉS joined into the process of the game’s development, as consultants but as meaningful partners with valuable expertise and ideas to help guide workshops, meetings, playtests, and debriefs
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