Empathy games tread thin line between 'edutainment' and virtual voyeurism

“Dys4ia” isn’t your typical video game. There are no bosses to defeat or weapons to supe-up. On their face, the challenges are even more simple than the game’s pixelated graphics: Try to squeeze into an ill-fitting shirt; Find an empty stall in the women’s restroom. And unlike most games, “Dys4ia” cannot really be won. That’s because “Dys4ia” is more than a game. It’s an autobiographical depiction of a transgender woman’s journey through hormone replacement therapy.

Since its release in 2012, “Dys4ia” has received critical acclaim for its gameplay, but more so for its politics. Through deeply personal vignettes, it appeared to communicate the unseen struggles of an already underrepresented community. It came to be known as an “empathy game,” because it allowed players to “walk a mile in the shoes” of a trans woman. This was the promise that so many hung on “Dys4ia” and other games like it.

The promise of empathy gamesVirtual voyeurism?Taking a page from literature