He never dreamed that years later \u2013 safe in Austria \u2013 his passion for computer design would equip him to produce an award-winning video game. A teaching edition of Path Out<\/a> was re-launched by UNHCR for World Refugee Day (20 June 2022) this year to help schoolchildren in Austria and elsewhere stand in the shoes of a refugee, making life-and-death decisions along a hazardous journey to safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack, who took a new name when he forged a new life in Austria, began drawing and colouring digitally as a child and mastered the graphics programme Photoshop by the time he was fourteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDigital art and computer games were the window to the world for me, out of my room in Syria, away from the war into a diverse world with very different people<\/em>,\u201d he says, reflecting on the crisis that broke out in March 2011, the same month he turned 15.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the start of the crisis in 2011, millions of Syrians have been forced to flee their homes. Today some 6.8 million Syrians have fled abroad as refugees, and almost as many \u2013 6.9 million \u2013 are displaced within the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At 18, facing the danger of being drafted into the army, Jack fled his homeland \u2013 a dangerous and circuitous journey to Turkey and then across a number of countries until he reached Austria in the heart of Europe. This was the first place he truly felt safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t plan to stay in Austria,\u201d he freely admits. \u201cBut when I arrived here with my brother, we were really shocked because so many people helped us \u2013 positively shocked.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shortly after arriving, Jack met Georg Hobmeier, head of Causa Creations, a Vienna-based game-design company that sees video games not only as entertainment but, in the words of its website, as \u201cmeaningful, enriching experiences that can connect us, challenge our perceptions, and give insights into the world around us.\u201d They\u2019ve worked on issues such as migration, climate change and nuclear energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack, eager to turn his passion into a profession, teamed up with Causa Creations on a joint project. The result was Path Out,<\/strong> in which the player replicates Jack\u2019s surreptitious trek from Syria, sometimes in the hands of people smugglers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe decided that Jack himself would be the main character of the gam<\/em>e,\u201d says Georg, adding that it was particularly important to show that behind every refugee statistic there are complex stories and complex personalities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Japanese game style they chose, the cute characters contrast with the harsh reality of the journey. Jack \u2013 the designer and the character \u2013 are dressed throughout in the yellow shirt he actually wore on his odyssey, which now has sentimental value to him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From a box in the corner of the screen, real Jack comments on the players\u2019 moves in Youtuber style, often with humour. \u201cYou just killed me, man,<\/em>\u201d he exclaims when the player makes the wrong move. \u201cIn reality\u00a0I wasn\u2019t as clumsy as you.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally released as a two-hour game in 2017, Path Out has won international and Austrian awards for \u201cits effort to shed light on a serious issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new version Causa and UNHCR developed for schools takes no longer than one lesson and helps pupils who might never meet real refugees learn that Jack led a life much like theirs until his world was turned upside down and he had to leave everything behind. It was rolled out in German and English for World Refugee Day; other language versions are to follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack the designer is still writing his own happy ending. He felt safe as soon as he reached Austria, but it took time for the country to become his true artistic and emotional home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt took five years until I felt my journey was over, until I really felt relieved<\/em>,\u201d he says. Now 26, he speaks nearly flawless German and English. He completed vocational training, worked for a few years in a game development company, and now is training further in 3D modelling and animation to become an even better game developer and designer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n He met an Austrian woman who also plays video games \u2013 though not by profession \u2013 and they married last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And he maintains his sense of humour, a trait he considers essential both in real life and in his game, Path Out. \u201cThe story of flight and war is bad enough; one needs humour to be able to cope with it,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u00a0Since the game reflects his reality, \u201cit\u2019s funny at the same time. After all, computer games are supposed to be fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Game](\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/thumb3\/62c82c2c2.jpg\")
Game designer Jack Gutmann (left) sits alongside Georg Hobmeier, head of Causa Creations, at their offices in Vienna, Austria.\u00a0\u00a9\u00a0UNHCR\/Simon Casetti<\/li>