Fact vs. Fiction

Immigration from Mexico is on the decline. Today, the country increasingly serves as a land bridge for Central American immigrants traveling to the U.S. However, the rhetoric surrounding immigration to the U.S. may have you believe differently.

Contrarily, Central American migrants, especially women with children and unaccompanied minors, continue to arrive at the U.S. border at an elevated rate.

Mapping it out

In order to create an experience with myriad storylines, a lot of forethought had to be given. This took the form of storyboarding. I began with creating an outline of every screen based on user action and outcome. For QA, I whiteboarded.

Research, research, research

We wanted to make the game as realistic and accurate as possible. In order to do so, we read a lot of articles about the living conditions in the Northern Triangle and the reasons why people leave. We also spoke to two immigration lawyers in Richmond. We observed a consistent theme throughout — leave or die. Most, if not all, of the storylines from the game are pulled directly from articles, books, or interviews.

Gameplay

El Triangulo is purposely difficult to get through. The intent was to emulate the impossibility of the journey that migrants face. Choices that may seem easy or obvious to us have much more drastic consequences in the Northern Triangle.