For Sexual Assault Awareness Month a Video Game about Consent: ADRIFT

ADRIFT is a free game about consent appropriate for all ages.

Consent is something that comes in many different forms. It can be something as adult as sexual consent or simply respecting someone else’s personal space. No matter what though, when you ask to do something with someone, you should always have their consent. This can be a difficult concept to teach to children and you may not even know how to go about it successfully. This is where the game ADRIFT comes in to assist you when teaching younger children all about the do’s and don’ts of consent!

In ADRIFT the player plays as a space miner exploring an abandoned spaceship.

Playing ADRIFT

ADRIFT is a very simple game that can be easily understood by a child of reading age. The game has you play as an astronaut who is a member of a space salvage crew that encounters a derelict ship in deep space. You are tasked with retrieving the abandoned ship’s valuable artificial intelligence (AI). The game play takes place on the abandoned ship where you are completely alone aside from the AI who offers to guide you through the ship to safety. The only deal is you are going to have to listen to your newfound partner in order for the mission to go smoothly. The game has some puzzle aspects to it but they are completely simple as long as you are careful to read your partner’s instructions. If you try to rush through the game or wander off on your own then things might go badly.

The player must respect consent in order to successfully proceed.

The concept to make it to the end is easy. Just access the ship’s AI through the computer terminals found throughout the ship before every action. By doing this, you will learn the proper steps to take to get through the ship. If you don’t follow the directions properly your screen will blink red. The AI will also become less trusting of you the more you decide you want to do things on your own without checking with it for approval. It is very easy to look over some information, so be sure to have your little ones pay close attention to the AI as each line it says contains important information.

If you want to teach consent well, you can do two playthroughs. The first you can let your kids go through the game as they wish. This will show them that not respecting consent has consequences that might affect their relationships. The game helpfully provides a recap after the game ends that shows where consent was – and was not – followed during the game.

Afterwards, get them to play through again to positively show them the difference it makes when consent is respected. It makes the space miner’s job much easier and at the end they will also see that the AI has a much better attitude towards them.

The end-of-game summary will show you when you failed to properly respect consent

Real World Applications

The information presented in the game can be easily applied to many real world situations. For example, if a child has a friend and they ignore their friend’s wishes by playing tricks on them against their will that friend might eventually distance themselves from the child.

Respecting consent is just as important in growing trust between people as is being there for them. Without listening to someone’s personal wishes and respecting their feelings, we are setting ourselves up to lose a potential partner or friend.

ADRIFT makes a point to show two paths that the player can choose with the ship’s AI. By simply listening to the AI’s wishes and respecting those wishes they forge a lasting friendship while successfully navigating the ship’s interior to escape and win the game.

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Gaming Against Violence is an award-winning program presented by Jennifer Ann's Group, a 501(c)3 charity [EIN: 20-4618499].

Play ADRIFT, a game about consent

Developed by: Quinn Crossley and Andrew Connell
Produced by: Jennifer Ann's Group
Price: Free
Language: English
Age Rating: Rated 4+

More information about ADRIFT
Get ADRIFT on the iTunes Store
Play ADRIFT in your browser
Watch a video trailer about ADRIFT

2019 Games for Change Awards, ‘Most Significant Impact’ Finalist

A World Vision Staff member is demonstrating the consent video game Rispek Danis to three youth ni-Vanuatu girls.
World Vision Staff teach group of youth girls the consent game Rispek Danis

Games for Change has announced the finalists for the 2019 Games for Change Awards and a consent game is one of the finalists for Most Significant Impact. Rispek Danis (The Respect Dance) is a game intended to teach young people about the meaning and importance of consent.

Rispek Danis is a culturally appropriate game created for youth in Vanuatu, a country with one of the World’s highest rates of sexual victimization. The game is narrated in Bislama, a primary language of Vanuatu, and all dialogue, locations, and music are representative of ni-Vanuatu youth life.

The player’s character and their partner dancing to the Jam-Jam in Rispek Danis

Read our article about the consent game Rispek Danis.

Congratulations to all of the finalists!

Best Gameplay

The Stillness of the Wind (Coyan Cardenas, Memory of God)
Detroit: Become Human (Quantic Dream)
GRIS (Nomada Studio)
Florence (Mountains)

Most Innovative

Tendar (Tendar Claws)
One Hand Clapping (Bad Dream Games)
Nintendo Labo (Nintendo)
Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed: Ancient Egypt (Ubisoft)

Most Significant Impact

Can’t Wait to Learn Uganda (War Child Holland)
UNICEF Kid Power (Teravision Technology, Teravision Games and 42 Mate)
Rispek Danis (Jennifer Ann’s Group)
My Memory of Us (Juggler Games)

Support this work by donating online: 

PayPal 
Apple Pay

Or by texting STOPTDV to 707070 

Gaming Against Violence is an award-winning program presented by Jennifer Ann's Group, a 501(c)3 charity [EIN: 20-4618499].