What Vil Du?! can mean for those kids
Vil Du?! lowers the boundaries to talk about sexual abuse, by providing a few key elements.
A safe environment
Room to experiment with intimacy and sexuality
A way to make talking easier
Time out whenever the situation makes you feel uncomfortable
The child is in control of its own boundaries
In Vil Du?! players can choose any character, from young to old, from male to female. They can engage any type of relationship in sexual or intimate play. The game does not stipulate which relationship is the most ‘healthy’. Instead it suggests that every sexual relationship is ok, as long as you are able to say no.
If a boundary does get crossed for the child, they can always hit the "Time Out!" button during the session. One simple tap will pause the game and obscure it’s content. In order to continue, both child and therapist need to consent. This offers room to discuss personal boundaries. In addition, the button presents the therapist a way to readjust a child's boundaries if necessary.
Vil Du?! is in its essence a non-normative game. Everything is possible, without us making preconceptions about what is right or wrong.
Design for ambiguity
Vil Du?! is a rather explicit game. You can undress characters until they are fully naked. The action-icons are based on physical parameters of the characters. Amongst others there is a vagina, a penis, a hand, a tongue and a mouth.
The use of these icons can have various connotations. It’s not the game that explains how to interpreted play, it is the player who gives meaning to the interactions. A hand on an arm, could mean stroking and caressing the arm. It also can be used to slap or pinch someone. This ambiguity invites players to express the interactions they are executing, helping them in small steps to verbalize what happened or what they wanted to occur.
Dutch Game Awards
The developers translated a complicated and very complex problem to a simple and effective game. They did this by opening themselves to these painful and difficult issues.
Dutch Game Awards
The game did not only help children during therapy, the development and intimate collaboration has given the experience expert clarity and peace.
KFHeinfonds
VilDu?! is a form of assistance that really fits in with this time and connects to the experience of younger people
How to get Vil Du?!
Vil Du?! won’t be available in the App Stores. The app can only be used by professionals, in a therapeutic setting. At this moment De Rading is working with a pilot version of Vil Du?! and we are exploring ways to scale up the distribution of the app.
We work with selected partners and are open to new liaisons. Please contact us if you are interested in using Vil Du?! in your organization.
Want to know more about Vil Du?!
Paul would love to answer any questions about Vil Du?!
Paul Bierhaus
Vil Du?! is a unique collaboration between De Rading, YipYip, Lapp and Fontys ICT.
De Rading offers specialised help to children, young adults and families, using their years of knowledge and expertise for the betterment of foster care, diagnostics & treatment and training for independence.
They delivered the use cases and info about the target groups, necessary for the development of the app.
YipYip designs and develops native mobile apps and serious games for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch & all Android equivalents. The visual design en iOS development for Vil Du?! was done by YipYip, starting with the first conceptual sprint at Lyst GameJam.
Creative studio Lapp feels that today’s interactive toys are focused on solitary and individual play experiences. That is why their games stimulate social interaction.
Fontys High School ICT provides ICT education at the levels Ad, Bachelor and Master. Fontys works with many ICT organizations to research and innovate on a wide scale of socially relevant issues.