Roadmap
Jenny Barroll
Is the path to success equal? That’s where Roadmap comes in. Roadmap is a controversial political parody board game that doesn’t skirt the issues. It’s main purpose is to inform players about the inequality women face in the United States — regarding societal expectations, financial inequality and the path to success. Roadmap is a flat design, illustrated board game that puts players in the shoes of a random gender. After playing, hopefully players see that opportunity is not created equal. This project aims to inform and investigate these imbalances.
When the game begins players have no idea who they are. All they know is that they are a hot orange or a sickly green car called player one and player two. The goal is to reach Fate Lake and find out whether they made it or not in regards to success. As the players make their way to reach their goal, they learn about experiences regarding gender inequality and societal expectations in regards to achieving success.
Roadmap’s content is inspired by gender inequality, political games, The Game of Life and a game class I took at The New School called Gaming the System. This class taught me that games could tackle serious, political issues and inform others. The game’s design in based on the United States’s transportation system and other road iconography.