The Migrant Trail
A Game Where Every Decision Has Weight
Marco Williams had made a film about migrants dying in the Arizona desert and wanted something people could play, not just watch.
We made a game with two modes. On the migrant side you pick a character, buy supplies and walk. Water, food, health and exhaustion all count, and you decide what happens to the people walking with you. On the patrol side you search the same desert and respond to whoever you find.
The migrant side
You start by choosing who you are and what you can afford to carry. From there it's a walk with numbers going down. Water runs out first, usually. Along the way people in your group get hurt or slow down, and the game asks you what to do about it
The patrol side
Same map, different job. You drive the sector, look for tracks and answer calls about people who are lost, injured or already dead. It's slower and more procedural on purpose. That was the point of doing both sides.
Drawn desert, real photographs
The game is illustrated, comic-book style, but Marco's photos and footage from the film show up throughout: agents, migrants, what gets found in the sand. We kept the two clearly separate so you always know which is which. The drawing makes it playable, the photos keep it honest.
What happened
NOMINEE — Most Significant Impact, Games for Change 2014
"I asked myself, 'How can I reach young people about issues like this?'"
Marco Williams, director