Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational individuals from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Mai Huyen Vo Dieu, Game Designer & Project Manager at Playing History. She speaks about balancing historical accuracy with engaging gameplay, using games to raise social awareness through creative storytelling. Read more about Mai here: 
Hi Mai! Your role at Playing History involves designing games that educate and inspire. What challenges and opportunities do you encounter when balancing the need for historical accuracy with the goal of creating an engaging, immersive gaming experience?

When developing a serious game, not just those in historical contexts, I often face the challenge of how to combine fact and fiction. Essentially, when we think about accuracy in historical games, we don’t view history as a fixed truth. There is even a lot that historians don’t know about the past. Instead, history is produced in the present — within the context of those who write and speak about it. And also, who is listened to (as a WoC with a colonial family background, it’s important for me to add that). This includes us, who make games. That’s why it’s important for us to collaborate closely with experts who develop the content together with us and take a critical look at the game ideas. It’s great that we even have a historian on the Playing History team.
One challenge with serious games is that we not only have a target audience, but also a communication goal in mind when we get creative. I often find that in many serious games, it becomes obvious when they try to force certain content into the game. In such cases, it’s worth considering whether the game is the right medium to achieve the communication goal.
Instead, it is an opportunity to set interesting focal points. We search for core motives from which we can develop a central game concept. One example from the games currently published by Playing History is Friedrich Ebert, about the first President of the Weimar Republic. During the research phase, the motive of “problem stagnation” came up, which led to the basic idea for the game mechanic: much like in a bubble shooter game, tasks for the politician come continuously, and you have to make decisions to win the game. Another example: I’m currently working on a game about refugees, and I’m asking myself what essential aspects and motives are part of refugee flights and what challenges refugees have faced that we can tell through our core mechanics and at the same time do their experiences justice.

You’ve contributed to various projects and initiatives that promote cultural education and social justice. How do you see the role of gamification and interactive media evolving in fostering social awareness and driving positive change in society?

Games or gamification can be highly motivating and encourage users to fully immerse themselves in an activity. Of course, games and gamification are not a universal cure, and there are contexts in which games make more sense and others where gamification can be particularly effective. I believe games are especially good at engaging on an emotional level and raising awareness – for social issues, for example. The interactive nature of games allows to slip into different roles and live through your own experiences in the game. Games can introduce societal topics to people who are interested in gaming but may not be primarily focused on these issues.
From my experience in cultural and civil society projects, I think that it is precisely those people and projects that are already doing important work, but are constantly lacking resources, that need to be supported. They could achieve much more if the necessary resources were available. Gamification campaigns could offer a setting and provide incentives to network, exchange ideas and mobilize forces, especially in structurally weak regions. I believe this makes a lot of sense, especially in these times when right-wing forces are becoming louder and louder. Another approach could be to use games or gamification in combination with fundraising campaigns to support initiatives working in the field to help with the lack of resources.

What advice do you wish you had received when you first started your career, and how do you use that insight to shape your approach when you teach your own students?

I’m somewhat of a career changer, like many in the industry. When I was still working at the university, I noticed similar insecurities among the students, even though game design was exactly what they were trained for. When I started my career, I gained a valuable perspective from a great woman, who was actually a leadership coach and my mentor in my early career.
The perspective was that it’s not just my job to perform well and get my work done flawlessly, but also the responsibility of my supervisors to support and help me improve. That the team members help each other to grow. Understanding this now, I wanted to emphasize to my students that they are part of a larger ecosystem where collaboration and mutual support are important. As a lecturer, I saw myself as being part of this ecosystem, where the focus wasn’t on evaluating the students, but on finding my role in supporting their development, whether in terms of knowledge or structural guidance. I hope I’ve been able to create an environment where the idea is normalized that seeking help and guidance is not a sign of weakness but a way to improvement.

Thanks for this interview, Mai!

Mai’s links: LinkedIn

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories Feature by Madeleine Egger