The Housing Choice Game.pdf - Show Your Impact

The Housing Choice Game
by the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center

The Housing Choice Game is
an interactive board game
for youth that simulates the
experience of housing
discrimination and its impact
on a family’s access to
education, employment,
healthcare and amenities.
The game board, playing
cards and other materials
were all created using
Adobe Illustrator CS4.

First, students draw Character Cards which provide information about
race, sex, disability, family members, income, and individual needs.

Then, using housing classifieds and a map, students choose which
houses best fit their characters’ needs.

Students apply for the housing. Some applications are denied due to
discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, disability or
family status. Other characters receive their first choice houses.

Once their character acquires a house, students may roll the dice to
travel around the game board. Periodically students land on Situation
Blocks and must draw Situation Cards, which describe a scenario their
character experiences related to where they live. Characters that
have experienced discrimination encounter more barriers to success
than those who have gotten the house that best fits their needs.

Whoever makes it across the game board first, wins. The game is
rigged so that those who get the house that fits their needs are able
to make it to the finish line faster.
Students write about their experience in journals.

The Housing Choice Game teaches students about the Fair Housing
Act and the importance of housing choice, and empowers them to
take action against discrimination in their own communities.