Vida Migrante: Venezuelan Migrants’ Inclusion in Ecuador by Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism at MIT

Balancing engagement with the gravity of migration challenges, Vida Migrante successfully bridges data-driven insights with an empathetic, interactive experience, fostering both learning and deeper human connection to the migrant experience. Over the past three decades, 7 million Venezuelans have fled political and economic turmoil, with over 500,000 seeking refuge in Ecuador. A 2022 UN World Food Programme (WFP) survey of 920 migrant households highlighted significant challenges, including job mismatches, food insecurity, and limited economic mobility. Many migrants allocate 90% of their income to essentials like food, rent, and healthcare, leaving little room for career development. Targeted policies—such as immigration regularization, credential recognition, and expanded food assistance—could alleviate financial hardships and support economic integration.

Vida Migrante: Venezuelan Migrants’ Inclusion in Ecuador is a web-based game and data visualization tool designed to illustrate the struggles and tough decisions migrants face. Using WFP data, it simulates four months (rounds) of life events, job opportunities, and assistance scenarios, highlighting the role of support programs in migrants’ inclusion. Players select a migrant profile and occupation before navigating a series of events based on a card they get at random—such as deciding whether to send remittances—while accessing NGO-provided assistance that mirrors real policy interventions.

Initially planned as a static data visualization, Vida Migrante evolved into a game to foster empathy and engagement. Traditional visualizations often fail to capture the complexity of migrant experiences, risking depersonalization. To counter this, the game transforms real data into an interactive, decision-driven format. Every choice references real statistics, reinforcing the impact of players’ decisions. For example, selecting a financial loan triggers a pop-up explaining that “48% of migrants borrow from family or friends to meet basic needs.” The game’s four playable migrant profiles—Luis, Génesis, María, and Jose—were derived from a K-means clustering algorithm applied to WFP survey data, ensuring they represent real migrant demographics.

A study analyzing Vida Migrante’s impact, titled Video Games for Empathy and Understanding Towards Human Migration, surveyed fifty-two MIT students using Likert-style and open-ended questions. Results showed that while participants already had high empathy levels, the game significantly increased their understanding of migrant struggles. Several key features contributed to this impact. The ability to select a migrant profile was particularly effective, with many players replaying the game to explore different experiences. The use of second-person narration—e.g., “You are sick of a lung disease”—deepened immersion, making players feel the weight of their decisions. One respondent noted, “I didn’t know about a lot of these situations,” while another highlighted, “The game is really good at teaching people empathy.”

The game also enhances engagement through contextual information embedded within decisions. Instead of static charts, statistics are presented in interactive moments, such as displaying the percentage of migrants who send remittances when players consider withholding financial support. By transforming migration data into an immersive, decision-driven experience, Vida Migrante not only deepens understanding of migrant struggles but also demonstrates the potential of interactive storytelling to inform policy discussions, challenge dominant narratives, and cultivate greater empathy for displaced communities.