Ares Olympus Presale Event

Developed with four other students in three weeks and showcased at the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center Winter Festival 2016, the Ares Olympus Presale Event is a transformational experience about how the video game industry contributes to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo through its use of conflict minerals. Merging traditional game mechanics and interactive theatre, the Ares Olympus Presale Event puts the player in a call center, helping sell the newest video game console by Ares Entertainment, who has promised a prize should they sell enough. The player takes calls and answers concerns based on a call script provided to them. As the game progresses, they must address the concerns of a group of activists trying to ruin sales and decide whether or not to help a hacker break into the system. At the end of the experience, the player is treated to a video summarizing the issues they just dealt with and are given a handout with more information and steps they could take to help the problem.