Gender-Affirming,
Life-Affirming.
Finn Finds a Way is an online video game demo that
accompanies an online educational resource designed to
provide gender-affirming puberty health and sexual education
for gender-independent, intersex, non-binary and
transgender youth aged 9-26.
The online educational resource is currently in development. Please sign up for email updates and read more about the project below.
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The Social Innovation Research Centre, as well as our community partner Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, are creating an online interactive resource for gender-independent, intersex, non-binary, and trans (GIaNT) children and youth. In the format of an online roleplay video game, the program works to resist stigmatization of gender exploration amongst existing puberty and sexual health education curriculums. The video game aims to provide information and gender exploration storylines that are affirming for various (GIaNT) children and youth. The project is titled: Gender-Affirming, Life-Affirming: Centering gender-independent, trans, nonbinary and intersex youth in puberty education with adaptive interactive media.
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The research is supported by the College and Community Social Innovation Fund provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The research is administered and supported by the Social Innovation Research Centre and Applied Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Services (ARIES) at Centennial College.
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Current resources on puberty health that exist for GIaNT children and youth are limited to text-format. There is a large body of research that evidences the need for online resources for GIaNT youth because of their specialized needs and safety. Finn Finds a Way provides an avenue to explore questions of identity and puberty at an emotional and social register. This enables GIaNT children and youth to explore their own sense of self, and how their experiences of puberty make them feel. Game players will have the opportunity to connect these experiences with relevant health-related educational information from a range of sources.
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The demo’s story allows for this sandbox- or outlet-like exploration through putting players into the shoes of Finn, a gender-ambiguous child that is exploring their own gender through their dreams. On a few occasions in the demo, players are allowed to choose how Finn responds to questions about their gender, and make positive changes to Finn that reflect their desired expression. Players are able to explore an otherwise tricky part of life and puberty through these elements of the demo’s story.
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Ronan Daniel (he/him)
Initial Game & Narrative Design, and Art
“To make a game where you could learn about yourself, I had to learn about what kind of environment and tools were needed for the player to make that happen. Making this game was a challenging experience,
but I myself learned a lot along the way!
Discover yourself by expressing yourself! That's what Finn Finds a Way is all about!”