Bound

Abstract

Bound is an art, cognitive empathy game developed for PC in Unity during the 20182019 academic year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Bound is an autobiographical artifact that exists to create an impactful experience for its players and encourage them to consider the physical limitations that wearing a binder may impose on the transmasculine community. It does this by recreating the mental and physical stress associated with running in a chest binder through its exploration and rhythm game mechanics. Bound’s narrative features an adult transgender man who returns home to go running on his middle school’s public track. He has ignored the health and safety warnings on the packaging of his binder and decided to go on that run with it on. Eventually, he has trouble breathing and passes out on the track. This event is situated as a memory that the protagonist is recounting to a healthcare professional. Bound is not designed for anyone with a transmasculine identity. As a queer designer, I grappled with the issue of appropriating the experiences of this underprivileged group for the potential fetishization of others. This paper unpacks my feelings of apprehension towards queer and empathy games. It also discusses the final version of Bound, the process of its design and creation, and player feedback. According to my formative evaluation, Bound was able to effectively communicate an intense and emotional transgender narrative to its players.