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Review
As the title suggests, the game takes place at the Human Resources Administration (HRA) in New York City. You are an alien sent on a mission to sign up for SNAP, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as part of your studies on human culture. Disguised as a human, you hope to see how SNAP helps people dealing with food insecurity!
Or at least how it’s supposed to help people.
Gameplay
The game takes place in a waiting room where we follow instructions on applying for SNAP. There are no puzzles. As the player we primarily observe the bureaucracy involved as we navigate a kiosk, dismissive staff, paperwork, and a line of people.
Our protagonist has the ability to “freeze” their surroundings in a temporal bubble of green light, rendering everyone and everything frozen in time. This is done to take notes and make observations before returning to reality.
I want to give this game a higher rating. Its exploration into its subject matter is strong, but as a game it ends too abruptly. The turning point happens after we’ve submitted our paperwork.
(Spoiler - click to show)The protagonist freezes their surroundings to take more notes only to realize that one human isn’t frozen. Understandably, said human freaks out when they see everything in a glowing, frozen state. To stall for time until backup arrives, the protagonist reveals themselves to be an alien who traveled to Earth to study humans.
The human expresses anger at the soulless nature of HRA and is offended when they notice the protagonist taking notes on their anger. Backup arrives, and the human is seemingly neutralized. The game ends.
We don’t even get a chance to receive the benefits we applied for. It feels like the protagonist’s mission is only getting started.
Story
Rather than focusing on a plot, A Visit to the Human Resources Administration strives to highlight the bureaucratic inadequacies that hinder obtaining social services such as SNAP. And it does an effective job at this.
For example, if you choose “Sarah Traballano-Williams” as your human name, you discover that the kiosk does not have a key for the dash symbol. A staff member says it’s okay to omit it… only for this to clash with the application process several minutes later.
"Your name in the paperwork says Sarah TraballanoWilliams, one word, and your ID says Sarah Traballano DASH Williams. Your name needs to match."
One small snag that can setback your progress. And what about needing to show a photo ID to apply for a new photo ID because your old one got stolen? This is the reality people face in real life.
The game points out that humans’ need to eat does not get put on hold until you fill out paperwork (again), reenter your info online (hopefully you still have access to a computer and internet connection), and possibly wait three to five business days for such and such to be processed and approved.
And what happens if, “sorry, the system isn't working right now?”
When the system fails, struggling people have to contort themselves and navigate unnecessary obstacles to make up for this failure.
SNAP
What initially drew me to this game was its coverage on SNAP.
I have never experienced food insecurity. However, I became aware of SNAP when I participated in a volunteer/learning program that included the “SNAP Challenge.”
In this challenge, we went to different stores and filled a cart with what we would buy if we were on SNAP. We then compared the hypothetical groceries from each store to see how one’s choices were affected by pricing and item availability. A common question was "do I buy higher quantities of food with lower nutritional value, or do I buy less food- and therefore have less to eat- but with better nutrition?" How would this factor in if you had a family to feed? Or lived in a food desert?
It was eye-opening. And yet, I still have a lot to learn.
Now, I thought that the game would portray some of that. Instead, it’s merely on applying for SNAP. And that suits the game’s purposes just fine. Besides, we end up applying for Cash Assistance instead (since the system isn’t working right, we’re told). I’m just curious at what observations the protagonist would make if they had a chance to purchase food with their newly acquired benefits.
Further discussion
The author, a social worker, offers some powerful takeaways that are discussed at the end of the game. Studies can reduce vulnerable people (such as those dealing with food insecurity) into data points. This quantification distances research from the realities endured by its subjects, and we see fragments of this with the game’s protagonist.
In a way, there’s a systemic suspicion towards individuals who apply for help, a default assumption that you’re trying to exploit the system… until you jump through every hoop to demonstrate otherwise. People need to eat. You don’t need studies to prove that.
If food is central to human existence, why are the machines to get SNAP lacking basic functions such as a working text interface?
Questioning the legitimacy of programs (and committing to them) that help reach the objective of no one going hungry makes little sense.
Characters
Initially, I was expecting a story where an alien finds themselves on Earth and must receive benefits to survive. The game takes a different route by using an alien PC sent to Earth on a mission. They don’t actually experience food insecurity firsthand. I do think the investigative approach of the protagonist’s mission and their status as a being from another world allows us to examine SNAP and its infrastructure with a more neutral, straightforward manner. The player is made more aware of real-world issues.
However, the most compelling aspect of this game is how it considers the protagonist’s actions as being potentially problematic. They choose to participate in these missions because they want to "experience alien cultures directly." They are well-meaning and make the vital observation that for a system that is meant to help people, it is not designed with this objective in mind.
(Spoiler - click to show)But our final interaction with the enraged human shows the protagonist processing the situation with a clinical detachment that is noticed by the human. Once the human has been subdued, the game even ends with the protagonist exclaiming, "What a fantastic day! I can't wait to write all this up."
The human’s sharing of their own experience is received as a point of curiosity rather than recognizing the human’s individuality that goes beyond their need for assistance. The protagonist may feel for the human, but they seem more interested in gathering information for a report than anything else. This can be a parallel to studies conducted in real life.
The game also name-drops some of the protagonist’s colleagues, but they have no greater effect on the story.
Visuals
Keeps it simple. It uses the default Twine appearance of a black background, white text, and blue links. Everything is easy to read and neatly spaced.
Final thoughts
I'm glad this game exists. It's an equal blend of light-heartedness and seriousness to convey important ideas about food insecurity and the bureaucracy that gets in the way of addressing it. Plus, the alien character adds flair.
As a social worker, the author brings valuable insight to this game, and I enjoyed their concise yet descriptive writing. They nailed the bathroom scene with its dwindling liquid hand soap and germy hand dryer.
I do wish the game was longer (or at least less linear) and allowed the player’s choices to have a larger impact on the story’s trajectory. That way, we have a chance to see the impact of our choices. And what’s up with (Spoiler - click to show)Skrzyyyyt? The protagonist doesn’t seem to like them.
Nonetheless, A Visit to the Human Resources Administration is well worth your time.
