HAPPINESS - an alternate reality art game about human trafficking

At the end of the 20th century, trafficking in women, men and children for the purpose of sexual exploita-
tion has mushroomed into a multi-billion dollar shadow market.

They are trafficked to, from, and through every region in the world, using methods that have become new
forms of slavery. The value of the global trade in people as commodities for sex industries, is estimated to
be more than 30 Billion US$ annually. People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries, to be ex-
ploited in 137 countries and 161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking.
To stop this exploitation in the long run, a key factor is to inform, and prevent in the recipient countries.

Is it possible to create a media product targeting the younger generation in the Western world with a seri-
ous content? To get and keep their attention? Happiness is aiming to do exactly that. It is an Alternate Real-
ity/ Flash art game about human trafficking, targeting teens aged 14-17 years old.

Happiness is treating their attention as a scare commodity and seeing attention as a ‘focused mental en-
gagement on a particular item of information. Items come into our awareness, we attend to a particular
item, and then we decide whether to act” (Davenport & Beck 2001, p. 20), obviously the way to go about
it is not to create something that demands their attention, as they are already being bombarded in the
current media landscape, but rather make a project that firstly creates an interesting visual and narrative
experience, and secondly contains the serious content.

Happiness is dealing with the delicate subject of trafficking and juggling things like sex, prostitution, sexu-
ality and gender roles. It is aiming to get the players attention through interaction with the game and it’s
main character Olena, a trafficked girl. Happiness tries to not only get the players attention, but also get
something that is very hard to achieve: Empathy. If the game manages to increase the players empathy and
knowledge of the matter, it should be possible to enhance their pro-social behaviour. Happiness is not a call
to action, but a call to change in attitude.