Sign: A Game About Being Understood
A downloadable game
Nicaragua in the 1970s had no form of sign language. In 1977, something happened. Fifty deaf children from across the country were brought together to an experimental school in Managua. Without a shared language to express themselves, the children did the only thing they could -- they created one. In Sign, we follow a small piece of their journey.
Awards and Recognition
2017 Indiecade Finalist: Selected out of 1000 games.
Best Free Game: Indie RPG Awards
Most Innovative Game - Runner Up: Indie RPG Awards
Game of the Year - Runner Up: Indie Game Developer Network
Honorable Mention: Golden Cobra Awards
"Sign begins with a premise that seems far out, even for boundary-pushing roleplaying games, but quickly zeroes in on a core of humane, heartfelt empathy in play. It's a truly beautiful experience to play.
This game is amazing, and that it's free is clearly a mistake."
- Indie RPG Awards
"Kathryn Hymes and Hakan Seyalioglu’s game about deaf Nicaraguan children in the 1970s is direct and unflinching. Sign dares to take up a difficult subject, and have players understand a small part of a real journey that transformed thousands of lives."
- Golden Cobra Judges
Download
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Comments
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I am really curious how much of interaction did designers have with the Deaf community. Did they ask Deaf persons to go thru their materials and so on?
I have seen Deaf community, culture, and language fetishized by the hearing people for profit and I'm tired and sick of it. One co-designer is from Bay Area which has a large Deaf community with American Sign Language (ASL) poets, storytellers, and activists. We haven't heard of them at all which suggests to me they haven't done their proper research by coming out and talking to people who actually uses ASL.
Some of you may go but but they don't know how to reach out or whatever. Just google "Bay Area Deaf." There is a state-run school in Fremont for the Deaf which has tons of resources they could use as well as people who are actually way more qualified than them to discuss ASL and signed languages.
Purchase this if you want but be aware you may be complicit in taking advantage of a marginalized group of people.
Nicaragua historic SL is not ASL. Are you from Nicaragua? I think your spite is overreaching for a target.
Your ignorance is showing.
At times yes. Would you point to a resource so I can educate myself?
Question: is this game good for students experienced in ASL, or does knowing how to sign already remove some of the challenge?
If it’s a mixed group, the fun will be in learning from each other’s perspectives. I wouldn’t worry about that. We’ll be playing in this configuration before May and I’ll give feedback if we don’t have a blast. ;)
The question holds if the whole group is fluent in the same SL. But even then, it seems far fetched to say every one shares the exact same idiom, and apprehends language the same way. The fun then would still be in witnessing and learning from this diversity. In my experience outside of this game, the contrary would be a sad shade of weird.
The overarching question is where is the line between fun workshop and enlightening game. If you’re already reading this page, chances are you will benefit more from playing the game than worrying about how it will go XD
Ddang, I didn’t get to play in May!