That Day We Left: A Somber Look at the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Your ordinary Kickstarter game campaign usually doesn’t tackle modern issues head-on with finesse and gravitas, but That Day We Left may just turn out to be an exception to the rule. Developed by Inner Void Interactive, a team based in Rome, Italy, That Day We Left aims to, “portray the terrible journey of immigrants and refugees,” and deliver a, “realistic picture of the political and humanitarian issue that is the refugee crisis – from a refugee’s point of view.”

It’s a 3D adventure game with a blocky yet vibrant art style reminiscent of Firewatch in which players assume the role of Rashid, the leader of a group of refugees leaving their war-torn home country for Europe. That Day We Left is billed as a “narrative game,” with a focus on dialogue choice, but will also incorporate level interaction “similar to most graphic adventures,” and a survival-style resource management system.

The Syrian refugee crisis is no doubt discussed in every corner of the world on the daily. Translating such a stirring world issue into pixels to tell the stories of real lives is no easy feat, one that should not be taken lightly. You can decide for yourself whether or not these particular developers should be the ones to take on this heavy task by checking out the alpha prototype on Steam. That Day We Left has roughly a month left in its Kickstarter campaign, with a goal of €20,000.