ETEC531 Courtney OConnor & Jodi-Lynn Tarney

June 2015

This War of Mine

Game Study Guide
During War, there are no good or bad
decisions; there is only survival. The
sooner you realize that the better.

Introduction

This War of Mine is a video game that was released

in November 2014. Developed by 11 bit studios and
released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux
operating systems, the strategy game offers a
different perspective into war, rather then playing
as a solider, instead you control the decisions and
actions of the civilians left trying to survive among
the chaos and cruelty. The game was inspired by the
events of the 1992-1996 Siege of Sarajevo during
the Bosnian War. As a civilian in a group of people
you are trying to survive the war with a lack of basic
resources like food, water, and shelter. A player
constantly needs to decide what is more importantsurvival or humanity? Spend your days trying to
rest and make shelter, while your nights are spent
going on dangerous scavenges for food, water,
building supplies, weapons, and tradable goods
which can end in death or the complete
deterioration of ones morals. It is the players job to
maintain their civilians health, hunger, and moods
until a ceasefire is declared.

Learning
Outcomes
Lesson Plan
Appropriate for Grades
Students Will Be Able To:

Critically analyze gender,

stereotypes, and character aspects
of This War of Mine
Communicate in groups how the
representation of gender,
stereotypes, and minorities apply
within a virtual realm and in real life
Provide evidence of decision-making
and reasoning when making a moral
or ethical choice.
Compare a variety of viewpoints and
media broadcasts.
Evaluate how information is
presented while considering bias,
message, purpose and audience.
Express ideas and information
learned through multi media to
argue, persuade and explore.
Reflect on personal past
experiences in order to extend
learning and knowledge

Key Concepts

Ethical/Moral Decision Making

(constant decisions need to be made on
whether to help people, and take advantage
of those weaker in order to survive)

Consequences of our Actions

(consequences can be physical but also

mental and emotional depending on what
they are forced to do to survive)
Survival (what gets priority? Sleep?
Food? Health? Morals? What risks do you
take?)
War Mentality (what do you find
yourself willing to do and willing to let go of?
What has normal become?)
Violence (of other characters, of yourself)

Hero Qualities (Where can they be seen

and do you choose to be a hero?)

Civilian Actions (there is a whole world
of interactions that take place outside of the
actual war fighting)
Group Dynamics (how do you and the
other civilians come together to survive?)

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

(after witnessing or taking part in hard or
even morally wrong choices to survive,
characters can be emotionally distraught)
Dealing with Loss (When someone
from the group passes, how do you and the
others deal with it?)

Focus Questions
When we play video games, we can become quickly
consumed by the graphics, images, music and
characters that games provide. However, it is
important to ensure that we do not become passive
viewers or players. When this happens we miss out
on some of the critical questions, stereotypes and
messages that are present within game play. As a
result, it is imperative to create a distance between
the game and game player. Below are some
questions that can help encourage critical analysis
of This War of Mine. While we are asking these
questions in regards to a particular video game,
they can also be adapted for use with other games,
and other mediums that are not considered video
games.
You will be split into groups of 3 prior to playing
the game. Throughout the course of the lesson,
there will be three stages (pre-play, during play
and after play). During each stage we will break
into our designated groups to discuss the following
questions below. Have one member of your group
either write or record your answers. At each stage
rotate who is the scribe/recorder so that you may
all have a turn.

Follow this link to view

the gameplay trailer!
http://bit.ly/1qNnFig

Pre-play

What drives the choices that you currently

make in your everyday life?
How do you decide whether a decision or
action is right or wrong?
Do actions carried out in a virtual world
correlate with decisions or thoughts in
everyday situations?
Are there any circumstances when stealing,
lying or killing is justified either in a virtual
game or real life? If so, what are those
circumstances?

During Play

What is your mission? How will you accomplish your mission? What actions are you
willing to take to accomplish it?
Describe the setting of the game. Where and when does it take place? Is the game
realistic? Does the game connect to any real-world locations, people, events or
culture? If yes, are you interested in learning more about these topics?
If the game is based on actual events/people should the game makers be responsible
for ensuring historical accuracy? Why or why not?
How did you feel after making a difficult decision? Did you make any choices that
might be considered morally or ethically wrong? If yes, how did you justify your
decision?
What roles are taken by men or females? Does the game highlight gender
stereotypes? If yes, what stereotypes are present?
Is there a hero within the game? If so, what kind of qualities do they have? What
makes them happy? What makes them sad?
Are the characters relatable? Why or why not?
Cause - Effect Chart
(Fill out during your game play)

En cou n ter

Op tio ns

D ecis ion

Ou tc ome

Briefly describe the decision or

encounter that your character is
faced with. What must they
decide?

What options are available for

you to make your choice?
What potential outcomes
(good or bad) are there?

What decision did you

arrive at? Why do you feel
like this was the best
choice?

As a result of your choice - how did that affect the rest of

your game player/characters emotions? Keep in mind
you will not be able to answer this right away, you will
need to return to this column at a later time.

After Play

What was the message of the game? What kind of

commentary on life/people are the game makers
trying to make?
Were you engaged while playing the game? If yes,
how did the game keep you engage? If no, what
could the game do to have you as an active player?
How do you feel about the decisions that you made
while playing the game? Are there any actions
that you regret? Are there any that you would
repeat given the chance?
Has your viewpoint changed on right or wrong
actions? What makes an action right or wrong?
Does this video game accurately portray the
struggles and consequences that can come with
difficult decision-making? If yes, how so?

Student Activity #1-Personal Writing Reflection

Write a personal response to the following topic below. You can choose to focus and go into
detail on only a few questions or attempt to address them all. Please make sure that your
response is 1.5 - 2 pages total.
Think about a time that you or something that you know has done something or made a
decision that could be considered morally or ethically wrong? Did you think about the
consequences or outcomes of your actions before you made your decision? What did it feel
like to go against what is considered wrong? What emotions did you feel? Why did you do it?
Were other people trying to get you to do it? How did it feel afterwards? If you were faced
with the same dilemma in the future, how would you act? Would you feel the same emotions?
How do we determine what is right or what is wrong?

Student Activity #2 - Truth, War and Coverage - What are the

Stories of the Civilians?
While This War of Mine is inspired by the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War, there are
plenty other conflicts in our world that affect civilians. Your task is to research another
conflict/war of your interest from the last 10-15 years.

#warisnotachoice
(This War of Mine, 2014).

(Student Activity 2 continued)

Some questions to consider:

What is the focus/purpose of the information you find? What information or news reports can you
find that provides detailed accounts of civilians? Are these accounts reliable?
What are the common characteristics of the civilians that are covered or talked about?
What information is included? What is left out? Who is left out? How do you think someone can
have their story told? Why do you think this is?
After compiling your research, analyzing and coming to a conclusion about the information
presented you are required to create a digital story of the voices that are often forgotten or
neglected in media. While creating your story, be sure to include the seven essentials for digital
storytelling, while also conveying the truth and power of their stories. If you need a refresher on
these elements, watch this YouTube video. (http://bit.ly/1Kjv4lD)
The following are tools that you can use to
create your digital story:
Animoto (http://bit.ly/1LDmm3Q)
Slidestory (http://apple.co/1Kjvvwq)
Storybird (https://storybird.com)
Prezi (https://prezi.com)
After viewing your video and the videos of your classmates answer the following questions
individually:
1. What element or technique made certain stories more captivating or appealing? Why do
you think this is?
2. Do you think the stories of the civilians were accurately portrayed?
3. What is the difference between the media information stories you read and the narrative
stories? Both revealed the same information, but were presented in different ways. Which
one did you prefer and why?
4. When is it appropriate to use narrative or personal experiences in media?

Student Activity #3 - The Rise of the Civilian Reporter

With the accessibility of a smart phone, and having a video camera and social media at our
fingertips, anyone can be a journalist. In certain areas of the world, journalists are no longer
considered neutral and are often targets of attack (Blake, 2013). Yet, with just a click of a button
everyday citizens can film oppression, protests, war and share images with the world that might
otherwise go unnoticed. Many people have praised this type of journalism stating, the developments
add a richer dimension to current affairs and factual documentaries (Bulkley, 2012). While citizen
journalism can provide us a first hand account of an event, like every media source, it still needs to
be looked at objectively.
Your task is to compare and contrast three videos from the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013 - a
local news coverage, a world wide news coverage, and a video taken by a civilian. If you wish to
analyze another event and videos please run it by the instructor first.

Some questions to consider:

What are the differences? What is included? What is left out? What source is reliable? What
propaganda techniques are present? How did the public react? What actions would people take as
a result of watching the video? What implications are there for someone who share this
representation of their state/country with the rest of the world? What might someone risk their
life/jail time to do this?

ABC News Broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dupw2pH3oes

Amateur Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxBoTNb6duo
Australia 9 News Broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-tcwBH7Uxs
After compiling your research, analyzing and coming to a conclusion about the information presented
you are required to design an infographic that demonstrates your understanding of these various
viewpoints of media. Your infographic should present all three sides for compare and contrast based
on carefully researched evidence. Your task is to present the information so your classmates can
make an informed decision on the purpose, reliability, and information presented in each source.
If you need a reminder on how to properly present your information visually in a graphic, visit the
following link of Overview Examples and Best Practices. (http://bit.ly/1IFew3w)

Sources for Further Study

The following are tools that you

can use to create your infographic:
Glogster (http://bit.ly/1mfRd99)
http://www.easel.ly
https://infogr.am
http://visual.ly

Conclusion
We live in a world where a single
tweet can lead to a modern-day witch
hunt of a persons life, career,
character, and worth; where one
mistake can haunt you. As our world
becomes more linked, we see global
changes being spurred on by (not
caused but accelerated) social media,
as seen in the Egyptian Revolution of
2011.(Boyd, 2011) It is important to
remember that even a single person
haring a selfie can manipulate what
they share and communicate. It is
now easier for civilians to share their
stories but can we take stories shared
as absolute truth? What tweets might
the civilians of the game produce?
What might the news media show?
How does the civilian deal with life
trying to survive and the
consequences of decisions made? All
of these questions are a part of, This
War of Mine, causing us to reflect on
our morality in times of survival and
the far-reaching consequences we
didnt necessarily know existed.

Books told from War Survivor

Perspectives

Night by Elie Wiesel (http://bit.ly/1g0Uutb)

Diary of Anne Frank (http://bit.ly/1eTYqMd)
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
(http://bit.ly/1BPKT2d)
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (http://bit.ly/1QYjXnQ)
Walking Dead Graphic Novels (http://bit.ly/1JsBCjB)
Films, TV Shows, and Games

TV Show: The Walking Dead (http://imdb.to/1TZtHgy)

Documentary: To Sell A War (http://imdb.to/1Lxlk8x)
Games:

Real Lives 2010 http://www.educationalsimulations.com

The Long Dark http://hinterlandgames.com/the-long-dark/
The Walking Dead
https://www.telltalegames.com/walkingdead/season1/
Dont Starve http://www.dontstarvegame.com
Unrest http:pyrodactyl.com
References:
11 Bit Studios. (2014). This War of Mine. Retrieved from http://www.11bitstudios.com/games/16/this-war-of-mine

ABC News. (2013, April 16). Boston Marathon Explosion Video: Two Bombs Near Finish Line. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dupw2pH3oes
AustralianTVFan. (2013, April 16). Boston Marathon bombings 9 News Qld Australia. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-tcwBH7Uxs
Blake, H. (2013). War reporting and the rise of citizen journalism. Security in transition. Retrieved from
http://www.securityintransition.org/commentaries/war-reporting-and-the-rise-of-citizen-journalism/
Boyd, E. (2011, January 31). How Social Media Accelerated the Uprising in Egypt. Retrieved June 29, 2015, from
http://www.fastcompany.com/1722492/how-social-media-accelerated-uprising-egypt
Bulkley, K. (2012). The rise of citizen journalism. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jun/11/rise-of-citizenjournalism
Game Spot. (2014, October 30). This War of Mine - Gameplay Trailer. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BALBUyoTxQM
GlobalBreakingNews. (2013, April 15). Amateaur footage Boston bomb attack. [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxBoTNb6duo
Iwancio, P. (2010, April 22). 7 Elements in 4 Minutes. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NipDAd3_7Do
Ministry of Education. (2007). English Language Arts 8-12 IRP. Retrieved from
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/english_language_arts/2007ela_812_11.pdf
Penix-Tadsen, P. (2013). Why We Should Take Video Games Seriously (and When We Shouldn't). Latin American Research Review, 48 (1), 174190. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/journals/latin_american_research_review/v048/48.1.penix-tadsen.html
Ross, A. (2009). InfoGraphic Designs: Overview, Examples, Best Practices. Instant Shift. Retrieved from
http://www.instantshift.com/2009/06/07/infographic-designs-overview-examples-and-best-practices/
Audiovisual References
All images retrieved from :
11 Bit Studios. (2014). This War of Mine. Retrieved from http://www.11bitstudios.com/games/16/this-war-of-mine