Forgetting is losing. So you better play “Huys”!

On January 19, 2007, Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist was assassinated in Istanbul for political reasons by a nationalist. The murder trial lasted more than necessary to be concluded and according to many the conclusion is still not a convincing one.  It is and will remain a disgrace in our history, however only if we confront it and keep the memory of it alive we can prevent such future atrocities. Kerem Yavuz Demirbaş thus introduced in 2009 an editorial game “Huys” meaning “Hope” in Armenian also using the Armenian version of a famous folk song on the background. The game “Huys” even today, almost five years after the incident, keeps reminding us that “We are all Armenian – We are all Hrant Dink.” Thinking of digital games politically, Kerem is aware that we will all lose unless we chose to be active and remember…

Kerem Yavuz Demirbas introducing Huys (c) Ayse Draz

After the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, I participated the funeral march and that vivid memory of both mourning and protest haunted me while I started my first serious research on video games in that period. I started thinking on games as an expressive medium for social thinking. After completing my MA thesis research in IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, I returned to Turkey and met friends from Nor Zartonk, which is an organization for Armenian youth in Turkey. Together we started working on the game. 

In an age where we talk of a digital shift what is the importance of digital games in the political arena?

For me the question is not about importance of digital games in political arena, but thinking of digital games politically. I am not really concerned about which political party has used what kind of games for their political campaign; there are examples of such political games in United States for elections and soon we will encounter similar examples in Turkey. My game is not political in that sense. As a medium, games have different narrative techniques and my political approach takes its sources and motivations from Godard’s counter cinema. Counter-gaming aims to politicize the medium in a critical perspective. Digital games are politically important, because they mobilize players to interact with game as a discourse system, and players realize the political consequences of different choices in game, of course within the limits of simulation.

Kerem Yavuz Demirbaş (c) Ayse Draz

I utilized Gonzalo Frasca and Ian Bogost’s theory on Newsgames, which are digital equivalent of political cartoons on newspapers. They also call it editorial games, games which have comments on recent political issues. Gonzalo Frasca suggests using templates of existing games to design and redesign games which represent social situations and oppressions of people. So I used Gonzalo Frasca’s game Madrid as a game template. I transformed it to a game in which you remember and also make the people remember Hrant Dink and his cause, to get together for peace, solidarity and political action.

What were the reactions Huys received from people?

I presented the game in 2009 in Tobacco Depot, Istanbul, to an audience gathered for the second anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination. The reception was encouraging. It was important because the understanding by general audience was that all games are about violence and cause addiction, I think my game changed their biases in a good direction. In my view, digital games are media by means of which we reflect on reality.

Is the game accessible to anyone who wishes to play it? If yes where or if no why?

The game is accessible on Nor Zartonk’s website, www.norzartonk.org,
direct link is http://www.norzartonk.org/files/huys.swf.