(Dis)connected Lives: Mediated Intimacy and Transnational Vulnerability in Bury Me, My Love
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.7004Keywords:
transnational vulnerability, digital game analysis, mediated intimacy, participatory storytelling, forced migrationAbstract
In an era of forced migration and fragmented geographies of care, digital games have become important platforms for representing the emotional and structural conditions of transnational life. This article examines Bury Me, My Love, an interactive fiction game that simulates the mediated communication between Nour, a Syrian refugee, and her husband Majd. Through a smartphone interface that reproduces real‑time messaging, the game makes visible the emotional labour, temporal uncertainty, and constrained agency that shape long‑distance caregiving under displacement. Drawing on a qualitative methodology that integrates ludonarrative analysis, document analysis of a collaborative player‑generated walkthrough, and thematic analysis of multilingual user reviews, the study investigates how the game constructs transnational vulnerability through its mechanics, narrative design, and reception. Findings show that Bury Me, My Love represents vulnerability procedurally, through delayed communication, limited choices, and unpredictable consequences, and affectively, through its portrayal of mediated intimacy and emotional strain. By connecting game design, player documentation, and public reception, the article demonstrates how digital games can articulate cultures of vulnerability and provide participatory spaces for ethical reflection, empathy, and critical engagement with the realities of displacement.
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