What if you could take part in a protest without stepping onto the streets or travelling to Delhi? A new video game lets players experience a demonstration from either side of the barricades, allowing them to play as a protester trying to reach Jantar Mantar or a police officer attempting to stop them.
Playing As The Police
The game comes amid a series of protest calls in the national capital. Created by a young technology professional, it turns the challenges of organising a demonstration into a satirical gaming experience, allowing players to express dissent virtually without physically participating in a protest. I was quite worried about the current situation in the national capital. It’s causing a lot of discomfort for a lot of people. Detention is also part of the gameplay. Players who fail to evade the police can be taken to locations such as Narela or the Kapashera border and must find their way back towards the protest site. The game offers a different objective for those choosing the Delhi Police side. Instead of trying to reach the protest site, players must prevent demonstrators from getting there. They can use lathis and tear gas, detain protesters and transport them in police buses. The opposing objectives allow players to experience the same demonstration from two contrasting perspectives. By combining barricades, recruitment, detention and familiar urban inconveniences, Jantar Mantar Chalo transforms the process of reaching a protest site into a satirical contest between demonstrators and the police.
The game, titled Jantar Mantar Chalo, was developed by 27-year-old Suraj Kushwah, an IT professional based in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking to NDTV, Suraj said: “I was inspired by news coverage of recent calls for marches towards Jantar Mantar and wanted to create a 3D game in which players would have to navigate police deployments and find their way to the protest site.
