Aimed at high school children, Bystander explores the severity and consequences of sexual misconduct

The themes and situations Bystander explores are complex, sensitive, interpersonal and composed of many moving parts. But at its core, the goal of this social justice-meets-crisis simulation-meets narrative video game is quite simple: not just to prevent sexual violence, but also to disrupt the abiding conversations around it.

For the Game Changer Chicago Design Lab (GCC), an initiative housed within the University of Chicago’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health (Ci3), having Bystander’s scenarios unfold in educational settings was crucial – especially with the latter sentiment of changing long standing discourse in mind. 

Initially developed and released among three Chicago high schools in 2016 (and later to a wider audience of American institutions), Bystander lets players explore its acute themes with a safety net, wherein enlightenment is underpinned by trial and error without the very real, often very serious repercussions of reality. In turn, Bystander hopes to empower young minds as they enter adulthood, in turn putting them in a better position to identify, and, hopefully, help prevent sexual misconduct as they might experience it in the real world.

Against a striking graphic novel-inspired aesthetic, Bystander invites players to make choices in specific situations that involve, or could lead to, sexual harassment. A couple kissing is vastly different from grabbing a stranger’s butt, of course, therefore consent, as you might imagine, is a core theme throughout. 

In one scenario, for example, players interview a woman who has been sexually assaulted by her partner – with the aim here being to dispel myths and harmful tropes tied to victim blaming. In another, the player is at a party and witnesses an impending assault by a male friend, ultimately tasked with working out ways to intervene. Ultimately, players must work through each scene and correctly find ways to insert themselves, finally reporting all forms of sexual harassment to their guidance counselor.

Several years on, formal research on Bystander is still being processed, with the game having been used across thousands of high schools in the United States. In the interim, global movements such as #MeToo have not only shone a light on sexual misconduct but have begun to change the conversation around sexual assault and harassment on a universal level. 

Still, sexism is still a huge issue in video games, especially in online experiences, with harassment and worse still clearly a prevalent issue. As a father of a young girl now finding her feet in video games, I worry about the world she’s on the cusp of entering – which only makes games like Bystander all the more important.  

Learn more about Bystander here.

Joe Donnelly
Joe Donnelly is a Glaswegian writer, video games enthusiast and mental health advocate. He has written about both subjects for The Guardian, VICE, his narrative non-fiction book Checkpoint, and believes the interactive nature of games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform.