Games + Learning + Society Conference Proceedings

Cities and states throughout the United States impose fines for minor offenses at every stage of the criminal justice system. Without any means of escape from a system designed to punish poverty, millions of Americans lose their jobs, homes, and even their children. Two of the major roadblocks to change on addressing the criminalization of poverty are a lack of awareness and a lack of empathy. In order to educate audiences who are less likely to be exposed to or directly impacted by such unfair practices, a team of game designers and legal experts collaborated on Poor Not Guilty: Fines and Fees Challenges, in which players perspective-take with the goal to increase their awareness of unjust monetary penalties and reduce bias towards those who are living in poverty by experiencing the detrimental impact of criminalizing petty offenses.