‘All the characters – all of whom would be doing good deeds – would be Muslim.’

Game plan: Farah Mendlesohn on a phone app that saves lives

Imagine being an aid worker in Syria, delivering life-saving care. Picture being on the ground in Pakistan, providing shelter to families who’ve lost everything after floods have devastated their community. Or witness life in Mali, where drought means that a microdam can deliver life-saving water to families in need.

Well, now you can experience exactly what that’s like, through a new interactive video game: Virtue Reality.

There has been a bit of a buzz around the game, which has been produced by Islamic Relief UK. It was originally aimed at: British Muslims aged between thirteen and thirty-three; the mobile phone community; and commuters. It has been a hit with these but it has also become popular with all ages, and all faiths.

As a Quaker interested in social gaming, and who has loads of gamer friends through science fiction, I was intrigued. I called up and asked if I could interview Judith Escribano, who had steered the project from development through to market.

Judith started there eighteen months ago. She is not a Muslim but in her research into contemporary lived Islam she came across Generation M: Young Muslims changing the world, by Shelina Janmohamed. One of the things Janmohamed pointed to was that, in popular culture, Muslims are either not represented or, if they are, are typecast in derogatory ways. The women tend to be represented as weak and oppressed, and men as terrorists and oppressors. These damaging stereotypes are something that Judith’s colleagues and their children face but, she realised, her own children do not.

So Judith went to a friend at the British Games Institute (BGI) to produce a game that would put Muslims at the centre: all the characters – all of whom would be doing good deeds – would be Muslim. The friend put Judith in contact with Shahid Ahmad, a games developer on the board of the BGI. He is a former head of creative at Sony, and tweets a lot on this subject. He had just gone freelance and so Judith’s approach came at the right time. When Judith put out the game to tender, seven companies applied, four were shortlisted, and in the end Islamic Relief went with Shahid’s company, Ultimatum Games.

Budget constraints led to the choice of what gamers call an ‘idle clicker’ game: people click to build things – such as schools and hospitals – and gain points that enable them to make in-app purchases for other items. These help them build a world in which relief projects are delivered and communities supported. These in-app purchases are, in effect, donations to Islamic Relief, and convert into real world relief. There have been thousands of downloads on Google and Apple devices. It has even had social media shares from a former president at Sony…

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