Killbox : a game about drone warfare
- Submitting institution
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Abertay University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 17692168
- Type
- Q - Digital or visual media
- Publisher
- -
- Month
- November
- Year
- 2016
- URL
-
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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3
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Killbox is an interactive installation and downloadable computer game that takes a unique approach to simulating an experience of a drone strike and in so doing critically challenges participants to consider the complexities and consequences of drone warfare. The project makes an original contribution to knowledge and research questions surrounding video gaming, the depiction and virtual experience of violence, and how processes of play might function as an empathetic experience of remote warfare.
Funded by Turbulence.org and Creative Scotland, Killbox was developed through a process of ideation, design, prototyping, play testing and dissemination facilitated by a collaboration with the Biome Collective, Dundee. The installation premiered at the NEoN Digital Arts Festival in Dundee in 2016, subsequently featured at numerous exhibitions and festivals, including: Politics and Videogames, Goethe Institute and ZKM, Munich-Germany, travelling to 30 cities worldwide; Indiecade, University of Southern California, CA; Amaze Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Karachi Art Summit, Commune Artist Colony, Karachi, Pakistan; Scottish Design Galleries, V&A Dundee, Dundee, UK; and 24/7 A Wake-up Call for Our Non-Stop World, Somerset House, London, UK. In 2016 Killbox was nominated as the Best Computer Game, BAFTA Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland. Killbox has been widely covered in the popular and scholarly press, including: Artsnight, BBC2: The Face UK; and Engadget.com.
Killbox makes a significant contribution to research in game design and critical play through its novel approach to two-person play – the unexpected shift of perspective from civilian to drone pilot, from drone pilot to civilian, the utilization of the site of an actual drone strike in North Waziristan as the map for the primary action of the game and the creation of a peaceful, welcoming and pastoral scene all combine to create an immersive experience that challenges players to reflect upon their expectations, complicity and connection to violence at a distance.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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