Visitors at the Parsons MFADT Thesis 2017 Interactive Showcase playing Pusher. Photo by David Utt.
A learning module on human rights violations in the Philippines in the form of a tabletop game
The front page of Philippine Daily Inquirer, 24 July 2016. Photographed by Raffy Lerma, a woman cradles her boyfriend, "a pedicab driver and alleged drug dealer," shot dead and left with a crude sign that says "Pusher."
"Pusher" is a tabletop game that functions as a learning module about the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines of alleged drug addicts, dealers ("pushers"), and criminals. The objective of the game is to eliminate all "pushers" from your neighborhood before your opponent by shooting or imprisonment. The overall goal is to introduce the issue and explain its systems and symbols.
Over 7,000 people have been killed since May 2016 in a nationwide war on drugs instigated by Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. While receiving approval from his constituency, it has been condemned for perceived human rights violations and abandonment of due process.
I developed "Pusher" as my thesis in the MFA Design & Technology program at Parsons. As a Filipino and designer, I sought to design a cautionary product for a society embracing vigilante killings. I decided on a tabletop game.
I imagine a society that has been overtaken by human rights violations to simply find it normal to the point of producing a children's game, reducing it to a most basic pastime to condition children into finding drug addicts, drug dealers, and alleged dealers unworthy of due process.
The game was developed over ten months and underwent several iterations before crystalizing into a tabletop game. This involved brainstorming, workshopping, refining, and playtesting numerous iterations with students, teachers, and even children (while carefully getting the approval of adults and guardians, given its content), getting feedback, and playing with iconography to fit them into the system of the game while reflecting its hard reality.
The game fits perfectly in an easy-carry pink gun case. This is a legitimate limited-edition pink gun case, manufactured and purchased in the USA. Its foam lining has been removed to fit the game components.
Production Process
Each component of the game was carefully produced with as high level a craft as possible, with thought given to materials, form, and polish. Other materials, such as the pink gun case, were purchased and customized due to time constraints, but also to co-opt objects to enhance the theme of the game.
Pusher Website
I designed a website to market Pusher like a commercial toy set. Click for the site.
Pusher online toy commercial
A farcical commercial for Pusher in the over-the-top style of 1990s American toy commercials. Using news photos and footage from the Internet, I added my own voice acting and a royalty-free track to make the commercial.
In the news
Games For Change 2017
"Pusher" was selected for showcase at the 2017 Games For Change Festival in New York under the Civics and Social Issues category. It was there that I was able to showcase to a wider audience, and got a lot of meaningful feedback from audiences and visitors who played "Pusher."
Presenting "Pusher" for playtest at Games For Change 2017, New York