Concevoir un témoignage vidéoludique en temps de pandémie

Le développement de Quatre apparts et un confinement

Abstract

Published on the website of a Swiss generalist newspaper, the video game Quatre apparts et un confinement (2020) depicts the daily lives of four characters inspired by real-life events during the semi-lockdown introduced in Switzerland during the spring of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobilizing concepts such as “documentary newsgame,” “operational reality” and “social realism,” this article explains the creative process behind the development of this video game, which uses dialogue choices, staging and mini-games to portray the experiences of people with different socio-demographic profiles during the pandemic, focusing on the psychological impact of this situation on them.