Drive Away

To experience the game - open the video or start the video below. 

If you have mobile VR glasses, use them. The video is best experienced with headphones. Disclaimer: The game contains imagery and sounds that might be triggering. 

In this 360° video, you follow the story of a young woman, Anna, fleeing Ukraine in her car. The viewer experiences the journey in three different scenarios. You see the world through Anna's eyes and get an impression of life and the dangers on the run.

The best viewing experience is on a phone that is held on eyesight level.

Since it is a 360° video, the phone can be moved to witness everything.

It aims to encourage viewers not to lose sight of the Ukraine-Russia war. It shifts the spectator into a role that forces them to sympathize with a woman fleeing a war zone.

The Video tells the story of millions of Ukrainian refugees that fled the country in a car. We told a fictive story that merges many experiences from fleeing Ukraine.

The Experience is told in three sceneries. A phone chat with Anna and her Dad is displayed in between. They talk about their situations and how they feel about them. The first section shows Anna standing in a traffic jam outside the city of Dnipro. The car is full of clothes, valuables, and food. Then the scenery changes and Anna's car stands in a wheat field surrounded by broken, smoking cars. Her fuel is almost empty and a tank is approaching from the distance. The third scene depicts the Polish border. Her vehicle is clattered, has broken windows and her cat is missing.

We tried to capture the development of the horror of fleeing. The story depicts a transformation of the atmosphere and danger. We focused on building up tension in the first two acts and seeming relief in the last. There often is no ultimate happy end when fleeing.

The video was developed in Unreal Engine 4. The engine took pictures that showed the camera's view in 360°. The sound was captured separately as well. We combined the visuals and audio in Premiere Pro and uploaded it to YouTube as a 360° Video.

Luise Palloks -  3D Art, Technical Art, Sound Design

Mascha Ermakova - 3D Art, Set Dressing, Narative Design

The game was made as part of the "It´s Ukraine, not a game" project. To explore more games on the topic of the Ukraine-Russia war, visit our website.