Over the last two years, a select few Argentinian prisons have been trying to fund a project called the Video Game Development in Prison program according to RestofWorld. The purpose of this program is to give prisoners the chance to learn about the process involved in creating video games and teaching them the skills to make games themselves. The secondary purpose of this program is to also provide prisoners a modernized skillset that they can use to potentially get a job once they leave prison.
GamingDeputy notes that approximately two years ago, Mishka Palacios de Caro, a university teacher in Buenos Aires, decided to go to three different prison units, two in the Marc Paz Penitentiary, and one in Ezeiza Penitentiary, to teach these prisoners about the full process of making video games. These aspects include storytelling, programming and sound design, all of which are taught on a weekly basis in each of these prisons. About ten to twelve of the prisoners from each prison unit are given access to about four computers, and from there they learn the basis of what it takes to make a video game.
One of the inmates, Mauricio, noted that this opportunity was impactful to him because as a younger person, age twenty, who grew up with video games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, it allows him to reconnect with a passion of his in a different way. This can be echoed by many other inmates, which can be shown through the video games that they have created through these workshops, many of which are available to the public. These games are heavily influenced by their prison environment, basing many tasks and pieces of gameplay on the prison environment. One notable example of this is with a game Palacios de Caro mentioned in an interview, where a prisoner is attempting to keep in touch with his girlfriend on the outside. The player’s goal is to try to keep the main character in the relationship while also keeping the guards from finding out.
It has not been an easy process to get the program running over the last couple years, as according to Gameworldobserver, prisons have a limited budget for non-essential activities, which has caused the push for items such as computers to be a bit of a struggle, hence the use of only four computers for the dozen or so students. However this has not stopped Palacios de Caro, who has continued to push for this program, noting in his interview that:
“Gaming studios need employees,” said De Caro, confident the students will be accepted as soon as they get out. “And formerly incarcerated people need a place to work once they’re released…
They think a lot about how they’ll manage once they’re out,” De Caro said. “While in prison, their lives are, in a sense, paused, but the outside world doesn’t wait for them either. Many can’t cope with society’s increasing demands when they’re released.”
Through the continued effort of Palacios de Caro, many prisoners will now have access to extra skills required to make a life for themselves after reformation, which Palacios de Caro believes will happen with the students he has taught.