Der Lange Weg
Der Lange Weg from Fabian Fauser
Der Lange Weg

Games are art, so why not use this artform in a meaningful way?

"Der Lange Weg" (The Long Path), so the title, is a game about a refugee. And refugees. Influenced by real stories about leaving your home, family, friends because of oppression, poverty, corruption and war with hopes of freedom and peace.

Altough it features a simple survival system, the main focus is on storytelling with the intention to put the player in the shoes of a refugee and allow him/her to get a grasp of what it feels like. I worked closely with local refugees to make this experience as authentic as possible. Decide which and whom to leave behind, pay smugglers for a passage across the mediterrean sea and experience the reactions in your destination country -not all of them are friendly.

"Der Lange Weg" was a solo project, done as the graduation game project for my Bachelor's degree.

Skills used: Game design, Storywriting, branching narrative, qualitative interviews

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Newspaper article "Computerspiel: In der Rolle des Flüchtlings" from the "Südwest Presse", Covering the graduation game project for my Bachelor's degree. "Der Lange Weg" ("the long journey") is a serious game about the refugee crisis. The player slips into the role of a refugee from an unnamed country, embarking on a perilous journey. Since I wanted to focus on choice-based storytelling I chose rpg maker as my game engine. Using premade art allowed me to focus on other areas of game design, like branching story paths and dialogue.
I conducte many interviews with refugees and their stories all helped to inform the events in game.
The player has to make a couple of difficult decisions, each one affecting drastically how the game progresses.
I'm very honoured that my game was featured in several newspaper articles. This is an excerpt from "Mehr als daddeln im Hauptseminar" of the Nordbayrische Kuriers: http://www.nordbayerischer-kurier.de/nachrichten/mehr-als-daddeln-im-hauptseminar_524558
The player's village is not safe and under constant attack.
The game features a basic survival mechanic, were the player has to manage health, foo, ater and rest. While it may seem cynical considering the topic, I wanted to highlight the struggle and constant, very much real survival many refugees are fighting for.
Having arrived in the new country, the player's character struggles with the local language, which is represented by the scrambled words.
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Der Lange Weg

Games are art, so why not use this artform in a meaningful way?

"Der Lange Weg" (The Long Path), so the title, is a game about a refugee. And refugees. Influenced by real stories about leaving your home, family, friends because of oppression, poverty, corruption and war with hopes of freedom and peace.

Altough it features a simple survival system, the main focus is on storytelling with the intention to put the player in the shoes of a refugee and allow him/her to get a grasp of what it feels like. I worked closely with local refugees to make this experience as authentic as possible. Decide which and whom to leave behind, pay smugglers for a passage across the mediterrean sea and experience the reactions in your destination country -not all of them are friendly.

"Der Lange Weg" was a solo project, done as the graduation game project for my Bachelor's degree.

Skills used: Game design, Storywriting, branching narrative, qualitative interviews

View Website
Available
Freelance, Full-time
Fabian Fauser
Game Designer Bayreuth, Germany