All reading materials: International Relations 1. InternationalRelations_ReadMe (Requirements of Assignment) 2. Everyone Reads 1) A New Video Game Drops Players Into the Chaos of the Iranian Revolutio

Participants were asked to complete a self -report prior to playing “Papers, Please,” and once again after playing t he game providing data for pre - and post -reports. Following the pre -report of emotional status, participants played “Papers, Please” for 20 -25 minutes before being stopped. Using this setting, participants were provided five minutes of exploratory observa tion in the game, allowing for mechanism understanding (i.e. knowing what buttons to push, what is expected of the player from a game playing perspective). This study limited gameplay to 20 -25 minutes to ensure proper understanding of the game, allowing fo r understanding of the narrative, and following similar game studies protocols of gameplay time limitations (Birchal and Henson, 2011; Gentile et al, 2009). After gameplay and the completion of the self -report Russell Affect Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 22 Grid, teenagers participated in semi -structured interviews. Interview questions were influenced by the methods of Falk and Gillespie (2009) and included having participants recount the narrative of the game prior to discussing their emotions. Interviews were audio recorded and designed to be completed in 30 -45 minutes . All interviews were administered in a conversational tone as this method is considered to be “the least threatening way of conducting interviews…[and] can be a valuable tool for probing a subject’s feelings” (Diamond, 1999 , p. 87). Recognizing the subjective nature of this study and the focus of emotions in youth, the interviews and discussions attempted to avoid the pitfalls of using a standardized definition with regards to speaking about what emotions the participants we re feelings, and allowed the participants to tell their reaction and responses of the game through their own interpretations (Niederhoffer and Pennebaker, 2009). In order to leave interviews as unbiased as possible, the intent behind the creation of the ga me or the description of the game were withheld, allowing participants to define and describe the game as they chose. Participants were also asked to retrospectively describe what they thought the games’ focus was prior to gameplay, what they felt at vario us points of the game , describe why they may have felt that way, and if concepts of the game parallel movements or issues in current society. ANALYSIS Data acquired through the self -report Russell affect grid were scored as two nine -point Likert -type scal es, with one score for valence and another for arousal. All data was initially entered in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and imported into IBM SPSS software. Through this method, averages for both pre - and post -reports were analyzed as supplementary to the semi - structured interviews. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 23 All commentary during gameplay, as well as each participant’s responses to the interview questions were transcribed into Microsoft Word documents and then imported into the qualitative data research software, NVivo. Using this software, reoccurring themes and keywords from the interviews were coded, through which trends in discussion and emotional responses were identified and discussed. LIMITATIONS The research and analysis of emotion assessment in games provides challenges dep ending on the methodology used for data collection. The use of both predictive inference (top -down such as tests or subjective questionnaires) and diagnostic inference (bottom -up such as physiological or behavioral measurements like eye movement) method ap proaches improve emotion recognition accuracy (Ifenthaler, Eseryel, & Ge, 2012). However, understanding that diagnostic inference would not be possible due to the length of time needed for this type of research, it was decided that an assessment and descri ptive approach to research would be more beneficial in exploring emotional responses of youth in a museum setting. As this study is also considered exploratory in nature, limitations on sample size influenced quantitative analyses of the data. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 24 Chapter IV: RESULTS & DISCUSSION INTRODUCTION The results of this study are summarized and further implications discussed in this chapter. All interview questions were analyzed and grouped into themes . Those themes are elaborated upon under the three guid ing research questions of this study. The game “Papers, Please” is described in order to provide context for the findings and all participants of the study are referred by their chosen pseudonyms for anonymity purposes . PLAYING WITH IMMIGRATION The narrative of “Papers, Please” is set in the fictional world of Soviet -like Arstozka in 1982 where the player takes on the role of an immigration official responsible for the traffic in between Arstozka and the recently annexed neighboring country of Ko lechia. While the initial premise of the game seems simple, controlling who crosses the border, societal issues of the Cold War atmosphere begin s to creep into the narrative forcing players to either honor morality and be punished, allow for human traffick ing, face fears of terrorism, all while attempting to make enough credits to keep the border inspector’s family fed. With a variety of choices the player can perform, over twenty possible endings can be provided ranging from the success of maintaining a cl ear border -control record (as determined by the government), to imprisonment in a work camp, to even death (Cobbett, 2013). “Papers, Please” was created by Pope as an opinionated statement in reaction to contemporary issues of immigration and as an express ion of personal experience , albeit the game is set in a fictional world. However, with the focus on social realism, it is difficult to separate the world of Arstozka from the recent past of the very real Cold War and the current conversations revolving aro und immigration in the United States Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 25 (Constantini, 2013). RESEARCH QUESTION 1: DISCUSSING GAME CONTENT AND CONCEPTS OF “PAPERS, PLEASE” MECHANICS AND NARRATIVE When discussing emotions in games , two concepts are often discussed or implied, and those are game emotions (emotions revolving around mechanisms of the game) and narrative emotions (emotions revolving around the story the game). For all thirteen teenagers involved in this study, the concept of th e game became clear in that “Papers, Please” focused on ideas of immigration and border control . In some fashion or another, teenagers fixated on their role as the border inspector in the game and often discussed the daily occurrences of their “work day.” As Yaan explained the concept of the game : So my job was to take in people’s papers and their passports into a country that just opened its borders up. And I either had to deny them or approve their passport depending on each level, kind of went from entry ticket to permit to identity card. As the teens continued to describe the content of the “Papers, Please,” they themselves, unbeknownst to game theory or the literature surrounding game and narrative emotions , also divided their exploration of gameplay into the two camps. Their conversation s around emotional responses revolved around these two ideas, which was consistent throughout all aspects of these findings. For some teenagers, the se mechanics of the game — understanding what to do, the rules of the technology (i.e. click here, move that), and the objective of the game (letting the right people into the country) — rather than the narrative became more influential to their gameplay experience . For these teenagers, the requirement of being the border inspector included much thought, precision, and proved difficult at times. Sprite described “Papers, Please” as an Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 26 “attention game, where you have to pay attention and see if their passport matches their iden tity and who they are and you have to question it…and it’s up to you, so it’s all in your hands…” Teens that had similar descriptions of the game gave clear, concise, steps of what they did during gameplay and the repercussions of their actions through the ir recount of the game . For some teens, immediate reactions to the pressure of the game and its rules became evident early in the conversations . For Johnny, “Papers, Please ” “was a very stressful game. You had to get approved by the government, and if you didn’t, you get an infraction of five dollars a.k.a. five credits. And it sucks.” Taevioen emp hasize d their concept of the game as having “[o]verwhelming odds of the amount of work to be done,” while Jenkins often claimed she felt powerless and consumed while playing. In contrast to the focus of the game mechanics, a few teens focused on the narrative of the game, including comments that discussed family , the terrorist threat the player experienced as a border inspector , and even spoke of analogous scena rios of real -life situations that paralleled events in the game. Yaan examined the idea that everything had to be in order and lined up perfectly. I never understood how hard that actually is. And now I’m like ok, those jobs are really hard and they, you, you can get killed for that, and now my children and my wife and my in-laws were starving and sick… It reminded me a lot of the whole East Berlin/West Berlin thing, it was after World War II and when the country was split up, and Germany was split up … Juneau like ne d “Papers, Please” to the “TSA in a country somewhat like the Soviet Union…There’s serious regulations on everything so it’s very strict.” For Malcolm X, the ideas and content behind “Pape rs, Please” were very real and authentic . He elaborated, “I think this stuff, it happened, this happened in real life. It happens in real life like back in the day probably.

People trying to illegally come to countries and stuff.” “I DIDN’T EXPECT IT TO BE THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF MOST [GAMES]” Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 27 For all thirteen teenagers , “Papers, Please” was a clear delineation from the games they played during their own pastime . All teenagers in the study had misconceptions about wha t they thought the game would resemble . Three youth thought the game would focus around paper airplanes, one thought the game wo uld be similar to a Mario game, another like Pac -Man, and the rest did not have preconceived idea s of what the game or the narrative would entail. Yet each of them made remarks th at they did not expect a game “like that”. In the interview with Sprite, he made a comment that succinctly echoe d many of the remarks of his peers. He stated , “The title was like “Papers, Please,” so I was thinking it would be like not , that. I wasn’t thin king it was going to be a game where you ask someone for a passport…you check it out ‘cause you don’t really hear about games like that in like today’s era…” And to a degree, Sprite was correct. Traditionally , games created for audiences focused on the idea of “fun” to engage their consumers. “Papers, Please,” as an indie game, is a game that is different from that, and these teenagers experienced this first hand. Lisa and Sage , who played the game together, discussed the concept of catharsis in games du ring their interview. Within their conversation, catharsis was defined as a form of liberation from reality, and while they acknowledge d that games have the capacity to make one feel something, “Papers, Please” did not allow their attention to be freed fro m their actions in the game , despite the game’s repetitive nature . Instead, these teens were forced through gameplay to make decisions and be aware of those decisions. They said: Lisa: Well, most games have some sort of, I don’t if c atharsis is the right w ord, but they want to make you think about something or feel something, and this game definitely put me in a position that I didn’t w ant to be in…So yeah, it was interesting. The objective or like the purpose of the game, I think mostly just trying to put you in a position of having to follow rules even when you don’t completely feel comfortable with it. I gues s. Sage: …I think you’re right, the point of games is to be cathartic. And I think like, this wasn’t at all, just because I, it’s the same thing about like, we would just follow the rules each time so to me, it wasn’t like a real action or wasn’t something th at was distracting from my thoughts or anything like that just because it was so monotonous. But I think Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 28 there must be like some element of social commentary or something to it otherwise, like, like there must be more to it than just like stamping passport s. Yaan, who was familiar with the concept of indie games identified “Papers, Please” as different from most games and recognized the actions during gameplay would need some form of mindful effort. Yaan’s familiarity with indie games did not hinder or he lp them, and similar to the remaining teens , also voiced various opinions of the game and referenced the experience as unpleasant. RESEARCH QUESTION 2: EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO “PAPERS, PLEASE” PROMINENT MOMENTS IN GAMEPLAY For some teenagers, aspects of prostitution, human trafficking, oppression and terrorism became the most salient aspects of the game narrative , creating an environment described as gross, unpleasant, and weird . Johnny remarked that the area “seemed like it was a hotspot for terrorists. I noticed that every couple minutes a terrorist wanted to kill them.” Two teenagers also likened the oppressive state of the game to a Hitler -like Germany. For others, the aesthetics (music and artistic style) of the game bec ame the element that influenced their gameplay, often discussing the music for setting the desolate and intense mood of the game and the somber color palette for enforcing an oppressive atmosphere . One teen even related the game to drowning. He said he fel t as if he was “in the ocean or something, and you had weights on you that so you could swim up just to enough, just to get one breath of air, but then you keep going down, down, down further…” For three teens, their commitment to the rules of the game an d following directions was also hindered by the need for detail in their decisions. Mistakes in gameplay often turned into government infractions and penalty costs a nd despite the players’ commitment to the mechanics Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 29 of the game, discussions around narrati ve and emotional responses slowly developed within the conversations. Sam explained that the “fact you made so little money, but you still had to support your family and stuff, like that kind of stood out to me… It’s a lot to take in and try to support some one on top of doing all that, it just got stressful. ” and S teve remarked that he had to be… … more vigilant on discrepancies because I guess, I make money off of doing that and if I didn’t do well I lost my job and got arrested. I would say maybe like, I had my family involved or like the player, and he had a family involved…and then I’m like ok, w hy did they (the developers) choose a family instead of like they could, the person could have been alone, or with maybe a girlfriend or some kind of spouse, or even a pet. But they chose a family out of all things, which is more responsibility. And shows that you have a relation ship with more than one person… For three teens, the fact that “Papers, Please” was a game also limited the types of emotions they experienced . What reactions they did have were often due to game mechanics, including making the right choice, making the choice quickly enough, and making the choice perfectly without any infractions, and thus the emotional responses they encountered were limited to frustration, confusion, stress, and anger at the system of the game rather than the narrative. These responses were often directed at lack of instruction on behalf of the game, too much text and therefore too much r eading, and anger at oneself for the lac k of attention to the game. Perhaps this “it’s just a game” mentality hindered these teenagers from taking a deeper view into the narrative, or perhaps prevalent exposure to video games also desensitize d teenagers from taking anything of value from a game, other than entertainment. A s G. Herbo stated: At first I was frustrated ‘cause I kept getting those ticket things and I didn't know what to do…but once I figured it out, it was just back to casual…I was kind of like nonchalant. I was just playing a game, but I didn't treat it like any more serious or less than... It's just a game. Like games are meant to be played. They're for fun, so. I don't make it more serious than it has to be. However, for a handful of teenagers, “Papers, Please” became more than a game. It became an avenue to talk about their personal experiences with immigration. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 30 IMMIGRATION AS A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE For one individual in particular, an instant personal connection between the narrative and their personal experience became evident before any concept of emotional response was discussed. They drew on their own heritage as a child o f an Austrian immigrant to help make sense of the game. They said, “I am Austrian -American so I’ve had my family tell me about this stuff and just kind of playing it and even though it’s a fictional world, the game still for me has this odd, not exactly like an appeal, but I’m drawn to it.” And they were not alone. As conversations in each interview focused on the various elements of the game and began introducing the topic of emotions and feelings while playing, it became very clear which teenagers identified as children of immigrants , as they made very poignant re marks about their own experience s with immigration. Lisa and Sage also identified as first -generation Americans born in the United States. Although Sage initially credited the repet itive nature of the game as the reason for her boredom, she began to stee r the conversation away from her emotions on the game and began focus ing more on her personal experience , her parents’ expe riences, and the effect it had while travelling in a post -9/11 world . She mentioned t hat as she was playing the game: … the first thi ng I thought of was the date, 1982. I think, I don't know when my parents immigrated here, but it was sometime in the 80s…Yeah. So, it's funny that we're on the other side. Like both of us are immigrant children and we're on the other side of that.

That wa s the first thing I thought of…I guess it’s a little nuanced ‘cause post 9/11 era and I look pretty like, like I look kind of Middle Eastern so, that’s kind of a weird thing. [W]e would get stopped at airports a lot, like my dad, lik e every single time will get probably checked, like it was really bad for a while . No w it’s not as bad, but like before, it was pretty bad. Lisa related “Papers, Please” with a family trip to Canada. In Lisa’s interpretation, the fact that her mother was not of the white or Caucasian race meant that she was susceptible to inspection by security and although she said she herself never experienced any form of prejudice, the Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 31 prejudice against her parents was very resonant in her mind . In her words: I actually had a recent, we went to Canada over mid -winter break and when we were crossing the border to come on back from Canada into the U.S., U.S. going into Canada it's a breeze, like they don't generally, it's totally fine. But Canada coming back to the U.S., t his has never happened to any of us before, actually it happened to my mom, but I've never experienced it, but they asked if we had food, and we said yes and they ended up having to search our entire car and I understand that it's like, that's a standard procedure, but if my mom was a U.S. citizen and if she was white, they probably wouldn't have suspected anything … but we ended having to wait the immigration office, or not the immigration office, the border security place for a while. And they were just ver y rude, and it was just a weird experience… trying to prove yourself … Lisa continued to express how her father was also a victim of prejudice while in another country, because he looked different, had cancer and was therefore carrying medicine in an airpo rt. She recalled having her family stopped, and her father searched because of his condition, and even through her interpretation, questioned the process of immigration in the U.S. She stated, “…it kind of makes you think about, the difference between us a nd them, the U.S. and you know, everywhere else and how strict the U.S. is about immigration and things like that.” GAMING AS SOCIAL COMMENTARY Although the majority of all teens did not identify as children of immigrants, two teenagers claimed they felt as if they were playing with a statement , whether that was a political point interpreted from the game or a social commentary they felt was being expressed. Jenkins even expressed that she felt like she was no longer playing with a game and instead was interacting with a simulation, and to some extent the game was teaching her about immigration . She said: I feel like it's kind of, more of like a representation than a like, I didn't really feel like I was playing a game, I feel like I was interacting with a…sim...Interacting with like a point. Like it was teaching me, but I wasn't playing. I don't know if that makes sense.

Like it seemed really clear to me that what I was looking at was like making a point to me over and over again and not necessarily that like I had anything to do with what, what it was doing. Like I said, like having no impact on what goes on. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 32 RESEARCH QUESTION 3: PARTICIPANT’S ROLES AND CHOICES IN “PAPERS, PLEASE” AGENCY IN “PAPERS, PLEASE” (OR LACK THEREOF) Games are unique in their fo rm of engagement, as they often have the capacity to encourage agency and offer feelings of empowerment to its players. As teenagers were asked what it felt like to be able to decide who was able to cross the border into the fictional world of Arstotzka, four major themes developed. These themes revolved around the feeling of power and satisfaction in following the rules, the desire to break the rules of the game, the feeling of disempowerment in the game, and the concept of family and personal experiences. Three teenagers who maintained their connection to the mechanics of the game felt as if they were just following rules. They explained their method of approving and denying people was based on the instructions of the game, and any form of defiance or of breaking the rules often meant penalties . Through their understanding, infractions and penalties equated to losing. G. Herbo stated: I like order in a way. In a way I do what I want, I don't really like being told to do like, I like ordering things and to be organized, not have to process things on the fly…I find it easier when I just like, when I'm given an objective, I find it easier to go obtain. For Sprite, choosing who was allowed to go in Arstotzka provided a sense of power and a sense of agency. He had the choice to approve and deny passports, which satisfied his role as the player. He stated that “Papers, Please” made him feel, “…as if I had a source of power, which is kind of like, good because people play games and they want to have that power because you're in a world that you control.” But even Sprite, as he continued discussing his ideas of power in “Papers, Please” explored the idea that his limited experience with power in the game was clouded by the need to pay for rent, food, water, and p rovide care for a fictional family. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 33 One teen who felt constricted by the lack of choices in the game attempted to “prompt some response from the computer,” by making choices not based on the rules of the game but rather because she wanted her own agency . And there were other teens who were so disturbed by the confinements of the rules, they felt as if whatever choice they made, the decision was already predetermined , regardless of whether they felt for a character in the game , whether they wanted to spend their money as they saw fit, or wanted to make a difference. It was also through this anger and frustration at the game that Johnny began relating the game to his perceptions of his reality in the United States. He said: I felt Pissed off. Pissed off, but then, well because I don't know, I like to feel like I can control something and not be told what to do. Like, that's how you work, but I feel I want a little bit more freedom and it makes me upset because it's like I know this is happenin g in the world, and it's like, it's not fair. I mean, U.S. isn't perfect, but we get almost freedom. Somewhat. For three teenagers, the idea of family and personal experiences within the context of the game b ecame influential forces in the decisions they made while playing. Not surprisingly, these three teens had previously identified as children of immigrants. Th ese teens discussed the idea that family is important, regardless of the parameters of “Papers, Pl ease.” Yaan explained their reasoning behind their gameplay decisions: … I was the one allowing people to go through , it’s a really big moment for some people, they were like waiting to get over that border, and it's my job. And yah, I got pa id a penalty if I got it wrong,… but I'd rather just let people go through and have my penalty be on me, ‘cause like letting five people go through to visit family is a lot mo re important than me surviving. Interestingly , these youth also positioned themselves in the role of the border i nspector, exploring the idea of potentially having to refuse their own parents from entering into the United States. Lisa expressed her thoughts in a profound way as she said, …I was thinking during the game, like oh what if this is a real -life situation? And it's really hard to detach yourself from a job like that just because you know, we were both Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 34 immigrant children, so like we're thinking about, oh what if this was our paren ts and we had to deny our parents from you know, coming into the U.S. or something. And I don't know, it's just very...trying to think of an emotion that I felt...it's just kind of strange and not, I just felt bad the entire time. It makes like a separatio n between like us and them. RELATING “PAPERS, PLEASE” TO REALITY Despite whether teens were emotionally engaged through the mechanics or the narrative of “Papers, Please,” all teens were able to relate the game to some aspect of the real world, whether that was through personal experiences or through trends they felt were currently unfolding in society. Several teens likened “Papers, Pl ease” to current day Russia and North Korea. Although th ese youth adamantly admitted they didn’t watch the news, they also said they heard about the conditions of these two countries and the ways they treated their neighboring countries, their association with communism , and thus their interpretation of these countries in relation to the game. Two teens discussed classmates at their respective school, focusing on the lack of awareness when their peers discussed concepts of race and immigration. And yet anot her teen discussed the current strife between Palestine and Israel, focusing on the forced removal of Palestinians in Israel. In his interpretation of “Papers, Please” to this issue he said: My opinion of the issue with Palestine and Israel, I think Palest inians are the victims no matter what. I don’t care way anybody says, it’s just like their people being pushed out of their country and now they just have two little strips of land, so it kind of makes me feel…I know people in Palestine, some of them live in Israel and they fought hard to get there, so that kind of reminded me of it ‘cause you know you can get denied… Lastly, two teenagers discussed the overall idea of im migration in the United States and the prejudice that often ensu es in such situations . Of these two teens, one never discussed the concept of identity. However, after playing “Papers, Please,” he expressed his ideas of current forms of segregation in the U.S. and traveling to Canada. He mentioned the game made him think about first impression decisions and the idea that every person makes these judgements. In contrast, one youth did identify as Indian -American. She elaborated on her experience when Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 35 traveling abroad to visit family, recalling moments when her family would be interrogated for being different and for being judged . She said “they always check our passports and they look at our face and ask us questions like about where are you going, what are you doing and it was an interrogation thing there too…” This duality of experiences between the two teens was unique , although they never met and participated in this s tudy in separate interviews. These youth were able to provide singular perceptions around the ideas of prejudice . Although they referenced similar concepts , one teenager reflected on her personal experience, while the other reflected on the same ideas alth ough in a les s personal way , providing an insightful interpretation around prejudices as they relate to these teen participants. A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO EMOTIONS Although many teens who participated in the study often referenced the gameplay of “Papers , Please” as boring, repetitive , and monotonous , the interviews that took place after playing the game all impl ied that these teens took some meaningful interpretation from the game. Whether these youth discussed their profound personal experiences as a child of an immigrant, explor ed their own perceptions of immigration and prejudice, to even understanding that choices have consequences and these consequences can affect emotions interpreted through the lens of game emotions , all teens explored their own individualistic emotional responses . Data from the Russell Affect Grid, which was administered before and after playing “Papers, Please” provided a unique perspective in how the teens’ emotional statuses changed after playing. With regards to arousal, the average score across all teenagers did not report any significant change from pre - gameplay (5.08) to post -gameplay (5.0) . In contrast, valence decreased from an average score of 5.38 pre -gameplay, to an average score of 4.69 post -gameplay. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 36 While these numbers do imply some level of engagement with the game through a quantitative lens, it is difficult to infer much from these numerical results as some teens reported drastic changes either on arousal, or valence, or both, and some teens report ed no changes at all. And of the teens that individually reported drastic changes, half identified as children of immigrants and half did not , therefore not providing any conclusive information about these numerical results. While the Russell Affect Grid w as an exploratory attempt at using a quantitative method to Pre 5.08 Post 5.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 Figure 1. Average measure of arousal (where 1 = tired and 9 = alert) pre and post -gameplay. Pre 5.38 Post 4.69 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 Figure 2. Average measure of valence (where 1 = unpleasant feelings and 9 = pleasant feelings) pre and post -gameplay. Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 37 assess emotional responses, no significant changes were seen overall in pre - and post -gameplay. However, future research may be able to implement such a tool if a bigger sample size were acquired. PLAYING WITH IMMIGRATION IN MUSEUMS The only thing that could be said with certainty about this study is that these youth each had distinct and individual experiences while playing “Papers, Please.” And although each of their emotional responses were unique to the individual and their life experiences , some claimed the experience of gameplay was depressing . Even so, n early all teens agreed that museums ought to utilize games similar to “Papers, Please” in their institutions. How that would be im plemented however varied amongst the youth . The two teens who did not agree that this would be beneficial to a museum setting referenced the monotony of the game, stating the time commitment needed to even understand the game would discourage museum visito rs from playing for extended periods of time. Of the teenagers who did agree that “Papers, Please” or a similar game could be used in an informal setting, three youth discussed the potential context of the exhibit or the museum where the game would fit be st. These teenagers reported that an exhibit focused on the topic of immigration or border control would be the best method of utilizing the game . They strongly agreed that a game producing such emotional responses must be placed within a context that supp orts the same topic. However, the four youth who recommended the context of the exhibit also agreed that the approach be discussed through a historical lens , and according to their interpretations, placed within a historical museum. In addition, three teenagers were big proponents of playing with interactives. They had the mindset that if a game is present, people will play it, despite the fact that it is a game that Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 38 focuses on a serious topic and the game itself “is not fun.” Taevioe n stated: People will naturally play games and they like interactive things and they start playing and they’ll be like, ‘What is this?’ and they get through and all their family dies and they go ‘oh.’ And they might have, or even invested, even playing tw enty minutes, like, you’re very into the game at that point. I think it would be possible to use it in a couple different kinds of museums. The negative reaction would be, I think, as important as the positive reaction people get… And Sage, who was unsure about the potential for “Papers, Please” in a museum setting, voiced her concerns about the vagueness of the game. Perhaps it was because of how she identified, as a child of an immigrant or a person of color that she became concerned over how the public would interpret the game , but t hrough her concerns she made the comment: I want to make sure, I don’t know, I like abstract things but I, for something like social commentary, things just need to be more direct so the lesson is the correct lesson. ‘Cause I don’t want someone to come out with more ignorance than like, ‘cause you know that sometimes happens right? You show a film, it’s kind of artsy, but’s talking about some social justice issue and people come out like more racist than they were before. So, I don’t want that to happen. Jenkins had a similar concern, and through her conversation she came to the conclusion that the purpose of “Papers, Please” was not to have fun, but instead to make people aware of a situation and an issue. She admitted that people who played the game may not always understand the point, but the game is not intended to make people understand, but rather to become aware.

Along the same vein, Lisa made a similar comment. A comment very nuanced for the position museums see themse lves currently. She said: I think the point of museums is to showcase things that can be controversial and can be like vague about things and it’s up to the people who go to the museum and interpret it their own way and of course yes, there is going to be people who come out of the museum thinking, maybe something different from the start, I don't know, something like this game, I don't think you can necessarily have your mind changed that easily or that strongly from the game. Uh, yah it's definitely impor tant to showcase more things like this at museums because it makes more of statement and gives more of a reason to, ‘cause people want to go to museums to see things that they wouldn't be able to see at like, you know, a city hall, or school, or something like that. The point of mu seums is to be controversial . Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 39 CONTINUED DISCUSSIONS With no definite consensus on the role of games in museums, this research sought to explore and describe the emotional responses of teenagers after they played “Papers, Please.” Th anks to the participation of thirteen teenagers from EMP’s Youth Advisory Board and Pacific Science Center’s Discovery Corps, the findings suggest that games focusing on topics around social issues, like immigration, have the potential to evoke not only narrative emotional responses, but also encourage s discussion of personal immigration experiences. Teenagers involved in this study discussed many concepts of the game after playing, from understanding the mechanics of the game and becoming aware of the minute details needed to fully play, to examining the narrative of “Papers, Please” and exploring the implications it might hold for character’s situation and family. Teenagers expressed their feelings of stress and being overwhelmed with the amount of wo rk required of them to play, as well as frustration over the limited choices afforded to them within the narrative. And most unexpectedly to these youth, that “Papers, Please” even existed and that there could be a game focused on immigration and that such a game encourages conversation about the implications of such an issue. Although it was difficult for teens to pinpoint specific moments in the game that encouraged an emotional response, teens often cited aspects of prostitution, human trafficking, pov erty, illness, and overall immigration topics and moments that elicited emotional distress. Teens expressed their opinions of the overall oppressive nature of the game and the use of art and music within the game that encouraged such an intense environment . When discussing emotions in the game in general, many teens explored aspects of family, not only within the framework of “Papers, Please,” but often citing their own personal experiences with their families and how they experienced immigration on a personal level. For some teenagers, this Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 40 game was an avenue to discuss thes e personal moments in life and to explore the idea that games can be made as a statement or as social commentary to a bigger situation. With the understanding that games have a capacity to empower their players, many of the teenagers in this study often felt powerless, without agency, and in general felt helpless about the situation unfolding within the game. For the few teens who identified as children of immigrants, they expressed concern over the realness of the game, and even allowed their choices wi thin the fictional world to be influenced by their own personal stories, drawing on their family’s experiences of immigration, prejudice, and even racism. Teenagers in general likened “Papers, Please” to various aspects of real situations both in the Uni ted States and abroad. For some teenagers, this relation to reality could be seen through conversation with their classmates, through witnessing either first or second -hand the monotony of repetitive jobs, to immigration in general, and even to conflict s they were aware of occurring in North Korea, Russia, Palestine, and Israel. This ability to easily parallel “Papers, Please” to current issues around immigration and prejudice was discussed in some aspect through all interviews with the youth, providing uni que insight into how these teenagers can create such relations between a game, a fictional world, and their reality. Although the insight through qualitative analysis provided fascinating information in how the youth used and understood “Papers, Please, ” as a result of the samplin g size, in no way are findings conclusive. Data from the Russell Affect Grid cannot be used to interpret for certainty if emotions can be measured from this particular game through this particular instrument in this particular s tudy. However, from the discussions with the youth and their willingness to voice ideas, beliefs, perceptions, and even emotions, it can be garnered that future research with a Asses sing Emotional Responses of Teenagers 41 bigger sample size may provide not only more generalizable results , but the lev el and depth to explore how immigration can be discussed through innovative methods such as gaming . Games in themselves are permanent fixtures to our contemporary culture and with the advent of indie games, there is the possibility to continue this study with not only the topic of immigration, but focusing on social issues around poverty, depression, can cer, sexuality, and other social issues . And as a very perceptive teenager said, it is the role of museums to be controversial. How controversial and in which ways do museum choose to exemplify this has yet to be determined, but with the use of independent games as a starting point for discussion, perhaps a method can be found.