Newsgames are a genre of video games that attempt to apply journalistic principles to their gameplay. Newsgames can provide context to complex situations which might be hard to explain without experiencing the situation firsthand. According to newsgame developers Ian Bogost, Simon Ferrari and Bobby Schweizer, newsgames are a "body of work produced at the intersection of video games and journalism." Journalists use newsgames to expand on stories so the audience can learn more about the information in an immersive way. Video games in the news games genre are those that are based on real-world ideas, problems, and events. They resemble political cartoons in the context of video games and aim to provide players a fictitious experience based on actual events. According to game studies scholar Miguel Sicart, news games are a means of participating in public discourse, utilizing the unique affordances of the medium to engage players in important social and political issues.

History

The format started with the game September 12 by Gonzalo Frasca, published in 2003. In September 12, the player is positioned in a bomber in the sky, with its sights set on a village in the Middle East. The player must find and kill a terrorist within the village, which is heavily populated with civilians. The player needs to decide when to fire on the village, with the goal of causing as little collateral damage, as too much destruction may cause other civilians to become terrorists.

Examples