Games as Cultural Practice: Post Colonial Imaginations
by Francisco Ortega-Grimaldo

H1-B Visa :

This game unites all four [4] players to beat the game’s mechanics in a race against time. This game called “H1-B Visa,” illustrates the procedures that an immigrant has to go through in order to reach a legal status in the United States.

All players need to collaborate in order to beat the 30-minute clock. When time runs out, if players where not able to recover their personal documents, pay the appropriate fees, present their applications and/or have their passport ready, all of them will be deported.

While moving around the game board, searching for all the documentation, players need to be careful not to bump into Border Patrol Officers that will send them to the interrogation room for questioning until some other player presents the appropriate documentation. Players can use the subway to move faster, drink coffee to run like the wind, or take a cab to get as fast as they can to the U.S. Consulate and try to get their H1-B Visa.

The Game at a Glance : click over the images to view them in a higher resolution (1000 x 750 px)