While technological advancements enable game developers to create more aesthetically pleasing video games, with realistic characters and cool scenarios, the same thing can't be said about the narratives used. Violence remains the main feature of all the most famous video games’ plots. If you're tired of the limited choices that the gaming market has to offer, here's a list of five games with plots that shine a light on social and political issues – in a fun way, of course.

 

1) Freedom Through A Lens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put yourself in a journalist’s shoes as you report on a demonstration against an anti-freedom law under a fictional authoritarian government. You can interview those involved about the reasons behind the protest and take pictures of them. The aim of the game is to inform players on the dangers of dictatorships and the importance of a free press.

Credits: Nicolas Staracek

 

2) The Cat In The Hijab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Play as a cat wearing a hijab as you make your way to work on the New York City subway. As you meet other cats hurling verbal abuse at you for simply donning your headscarf, you have the ability to respond to them and thus learn more about Islamophobia and the ways we can fight against it.

Credits: andyman404

 

3) Papers, s’il vous plait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're a Canadian immigration officer tasked with assessing at least three immigration applications in a day. Will you follow the government’s guidelines or will you lose your job? This is an interesting game about Western values and their influence on immigration laws.