Welcome to IntelligameClub! Each month the Intelligame community plays a game together chosen by IntelligameClub host, Jenny Windom. This month’s selection is Half, a game developed by Emma Kidwell.

The Interview

In this week’s episode, Emma and I sat down to chat about her game, Half. You’ll hear how she drew from personal experiences to share her story about growing up and navigating identity as a bi-racial woman and how she continues to reflect on her identity today.

Listen to this episode now! You can check it out here, on Spotify, or subscribe to IntelligameClub wherever you get your podcasts.

Half is available on Itch.io for free and takes about 15 minutes to play. We recommend playing the game in full-screen for the best viewing/reading experience.

Thanks so much for participating in IntelligameClub, whether you shared your thoughts about the game in the Discord, wrote to us at [email protected], or simply listened and reflected on your own! Please continue sharing your thoughts about this new format as we continue to hone in ~ it’s much appreciated.

To guide the discussion, and to give you an idea of what we’ll be using to guide the next episode’s discussion, we’ve also provided questions you can reflect on before and after playing:

Reflect Before Playing:

  • Either in your head, on paper, or by typing it out, list the words that you would normally use to identify yourself. How much of that is tied to your nationality? What about your race? Did anything about your list surprise you?

Reflect After Playing:

  • “Passing” is a term that’s often used to denote when someone is able to be accepted as part of a racial/ethnic group other than their own, particularly in terms of physical appearance. How does that definition shift in Emma’s case (and when considering other mixed-race/muti-racial/bi-racial people)?
  • Language and food are two hallmarks of cultural participation and sense of belonging. What role did language play in Emma’s experiences? What about food?
  • How does Emma’s identity, or her relationship to her identity, shift based on who she’s around? For example, differences between talking with her mom, partner, or co-workers about her Japanese heritage or Japanese topics. Have you experienced shifts in your identity based on the folks you’re currently with?
  • How do you see the world navigating and viewing mixed-race/muti-racial/bi-racial people in the next 10, 20, 30 years?

Let us know what you think of this new format! Send your questions to [email protected]. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast and we’ll see you for our discussion episode on April 24th!