Behind The Washington Post’s game ‘7 Ways to Defy Death’

To accompany The Washington Post’s recent front page story “Tech Titans’ Latest Project: Defy Death” on how Silicon Valley billionaires fund biomedical research for stem cell transplants and custom-built bones, the paper built the game “7 Ways to Defy Death.” The game took several months to build. Designers wanted to balance the playfulness of the game with the seriousness of the topic, so the science and text in the game focus on the specifics. For journalists who want to build a game, the game’s designer Shelly Tan recommends having people play it often, even in the early stages, to identify roadblocks for the user.