Grassroots: Developing a Location-Based Game through a Decolonial Lens

Abstract

This paper details our design process for “Grassroots: Unite, Reclaim, Maintain,” a location-based mobile game (LBMG) about fostering community through decolonial practices emphasizing mobility justice. Many mainstream LBMGs tend to reinforce a colonialist rhetoric through competitive gameplay based upon claiming and exploiting territories in the virtual world overlaid on the physical world. Through the ludic experience within the virtual world of “Grassroots,” we hope to encourage a new sense of connection, accessibility, and understanding of physical places.