Choose between dinner and sanitiser

 
The game challenges the player to survive a 21-day lockdown. But you either run out of money or contract the virus. Pic/ Getty Images

Survive Covid presents tough questions to its players who are required to survive 21 days with meagre amounts of money. Launched on April 29, the game aims to sensitise people on the many problems faced by daily wage workers. It also shows the reality of the working class. Unfortunately for this writer, her choices eventually made her and her virtual family homeless by the end of the game. At a time when most of us miss following our exercise routine at the gym and meeting close friends at the neighbourhood pub, rarely do we spare a thought for low-income families and how they are being stripped off their savings.

Srivatsan Jayasankar of XR Labs says, "The idea emerged from a phone discussion I had with Vedika Agarwal of Yein Udaan. We took 10 days to frame the and string them together to create a storyline." There are two main objectives to the game. He continues, "We wanted our friends and families to understand and appreciate the privileges they were enjoying, instead of complaining about not being able to travel and have a meal at their favourite restaurant. Secondly, we wanted to communicate the difficulties faced by people in the marginalised communities, using an experiential format."

Srivatsan Jayasankar

According to Jayasankar, the game went live last on April 29 and grew to 50k users in less than five days. "It is designed in a very simple format. As soon as the link opens, you are walked through scenarios where you are presented with 3-4 options to choose from. The path of the game depends on the choices you make."

Vedika Agarwal

Agarwal, who works with low-income families in Chennai, explains, "You either lose the game if you run out of money or increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 100 per cent. And the challenge is to survive these 21 days with just a few thousand rupees. We have also offered users the option of offering donation at the end of the game, to help daily wagers."

You can play the game at https://covid.xrlabs.cloud/que?no=22

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!