A school shooting videogame made by the parents of a victim aims to change minds about gun control: ‘This is not a scary game, it’s an educational game’

The parents of 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver, a teen who was killed during the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have released a videogame that aims to convince Americans of the need for increased gun control by challenging players to survive a school shooting.

Released in September through Change the Ref, an organization founded by Manuel and Patricia Oliver in the aftermath of their son’s murder, The Final Exam puts players alone in a fictional high school, caught in the midst of a school shooting. It’s a linear trip through a locker room, gymnasium, and hallways, punctuated by interludes in which you hide from the nearby shooter, controlling your breathing via quicktime events. The game is also very brief, a playthrough taking roughly 10 minutes, which the website at thefinalexam.us says is the average length of a mass shooting incident in the US.