Path Out is a short, educational video game that tells the story of migrant Abdullah Karam’s escape from the Syrian Civil War in 2014. The game begins with Karam’s avatar in a forest, and the player must find the path out. However, the game won’t let you continue until you are either shot or hit one of the land mines. Karam’s real self pops up in the corner, chastising the player to say, “You just killed me man! In reality, I wasn’t as clumsy as you.” The game then jumps back to 2011 when the uprisings begin. It walks the player through Karam’s escape, with a humorous Karam popping up in the corner to provide further explanation or critique the game design.
Games like Path Out are the case studies used in Dr. Juan Llamas-Rodriguez’s project, “Playing with ‘The Migrant’s Voice’ in Digital Game Cultures” (“Migrant’s Voice”). Dr. Llamas-Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and associate director of the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the University of Pennsylvania; he gave a talk on “Migrant’s Voice” at an event hosted by the Department of Film, Television, and Media and co-sponsored by the Digital Studies Institute on Oct. 2, 2025.
“Migrant’s Voice” asks not only who speaks, but who’s listening? How is the migrant represented? And do these games truly help the cause? Dr. Llamas-Rodriguez explained that the refugee is often depicted as someone powerless who only suffers. They are rarely given a voice, and if they are, the migrant is forced to adopt a persona that the audience expects them to embody.
From my experience playing Path Out, I found the additional information about the Syrian Civil War beneficial to my learning and understanding. However, Karam’s interjections frequently took me out of the experience. At one point, Karam is forced to float down the river hidden in a barrel, and he remarks that it’s “like the dwarves in The Hobbit.” While these humorous quips make the game more fun, they diminish the gravity of the topic.
Dr. Llamas-Rodriguez pointed out that there is an “instrumental difference to playing a game in the comfort of your own home [compared to] actually being in a war zone.” Video games can’t depict the finality of death. If you die, you can just reload from the last checkpoint. One of the worst possible outcomes for a migrant becomes a minor inconvenience for the player controlling an avatar with a joystick or arrow keys.
We can also question if migrant games make any real social change, or even evoke empathy in the first place. Dr. Llamas-Rodriguez explained that the more empathy games you play, the more desensitized you become. He also said that “companies that claim to make games for social change aren’t actually making much change; they’re just doing it for the brand.” Some games may fundraise for the cause, yet company image seems to take priority over sustaining an audience.
To me, one of the main goals of storytelling—whether through books, film, video games, or any form of media—is to expand the audience’s perspective and generate empathy for characters the audience connects with. We often hear the metaphor of “stepping into someone’s shoes,” but it’s important to invite scholars like Dr. Llamas-Rodriguez to explain the costs and benefits of allowing players to almost literally “step into” and assume the role of someone else.
Unfortunately, there will never be a perfect game that captures the migrant’s experience. Real migrants don’t get to set down their controller and move on with the rest of their day; even after they arrive at their destination, the struggle isn’t over. They’re forced to adapt, blend in, and start from square one to build a new life. That said, this media can still be valuable. Engaging with these games can be a starting point to think through a migrant’s experience, but powering off an empathy game shouldn’t power off the conversation.
