Amnesty launches game app to make human rights learning accessible

Amnesty International has launched Rights Arcade, a free human rights game app that aims to educate the next generation of human rights defenders about rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

Rights Arcade – Amnesty's gaming app – is designed to strengthen the human rights movement through action-oriented education, said a press release. 

The games will boost players' knowledge about human rights and encourage people to take action on human rights issues. One of Rights Arcade's key features is a self-paced approach that allows players to learn, reflect and take action at their own pace while navigating through the game's stories.

"This game has been designed to empower and encourage people everywhere, but especially younger audiences, to learn about human rights in an engaging manner," said Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnès Callamard.

"Young people are pivotal in setting the human rights agenda, today and for the future. Reaching them in the spaces they inhabit, or with which they engage regularly, is key to enabling new generations of activists and empowering them to fight for, and protect, human rights - now and in the future," Callamard added. 

"The players take a human rights journey through the experiences of three real-life people: Ahmed Kabir Kishor, a cartoonist charged under the Digital Security Act in Bangladesh; Zhang Zhan, a citizen journalist sentenced to four years in prison for reporting about Covid-19 in China; and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, a student activist facing more than 25 charges for protesting in Thailand," the press release read. 

The game's stories, which are fictionalised experiences inspired by real-world events, are driven by a player's choices. The player gets to play the role and navigate the experiences of the three central characters, making decisions based on their own understanding of human rights and unpacking how human rights concepts apply in daily life.

People around the world will be able to access a collection of three games currently available in four languages: English, Simplified Chinese, Thai and Korean.