The concept of privilege – the idea that certain people are born into life with certain advantages according to their race, gender, or country of birth – can be difficult to discuss without arousing a lot of angry emotions. Zsolt Bartok hopes his app, Privileged, can help people understand privilege and lack thereof by letting players make up a virtual life.
Privileged’s gameplay is based around real-world data. The goal is to “raise” a happy and healthy human being who contributes to humanity by becoming an astronaut or a Nobel Prize winner. But becoming a top-tier human being is difficult enough in an environment where your basic needs are met and you’re free to pursue an education. It becomes considerably harder when you’re a woman born to an impoverished family in a country torn apart by civil war.
Earth isn’t a kind place for anyone or anything that’s alive, and survival for some people is much harder for others. Privileged can be downloaded from Google Play. For more information on the data Bartok gathered and used, you can visit his page for Privileged.
