APP STORE AWARDS

Cultural Impact winner: Do You Really Want to Know 2

Do You Really Want to Know 2

Before Love

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Told with humour and heart, this interactive story illuminates the complexities of living with HIV.

– App Store Editors

Despite being a manageable chronic condition, HIV is still clouded by stigma and misinformation. Do You Really Want to Know 2 seeks to clear up what it’s like to live with HIV using the most unlikely of vehicles: an interactive story told almost entirely through apps.

Through conversations with experts and friends, Nick begins to reveal his diagnosis. Every choice leads to different responses.

Each beat of the tale is revealed through the hand-drawn apps that the protagonist, Nick, uses each day. You decide how he’ll DM friends, chime in on his family’s group chat and comment on posts.

Initially the interactions are casual and day-to-day. Dish about office gossip, drop a like on a pic of a family gathering, and join an online club obsessed with capybaras. (Who knew the world’s biggest rodent could be so cute?)

But after Nick’s ex-boyfriend shares his positive HIV status, everything shifts. Nick’s suddenly texting healthcare providers, joining online support groups and, before long, sorting a to-do list to make sure he doesn’t forget to take his daily meds.

By walking Nick’s path with him, and making choices that affect how his story unfolds, we begin to understand how layered his journey can be – even beyond medical issues. Should Nick be honest with his mother, whose traditional values might be in conflict with wanting to be there for her son? How much can he safely open up to strangers? There are no right answers here.

The game also seamlessly weaves important info about HIV and AIDS into the narrative. While chatting with a friend, for example, Nick learns the many ways to get tested, such as anonymous clinics and at-home kits, and he discovers that buying a kit is nothing to feel self-conscious about.

Filled with wry humour, Do You Really Want to Know 2 tackles a difficult topic with a refreshing and, in many ways, life-affirming openness. That’s a tall order for a mobile game, but like Nick, this one embraces the challenge.

Quick tip

You can replay the game to see how different choices affect Nick’s relationships. To speed things up, turn off the Message Time option in the game’s settings. Messages will appear instantly, skipping the delay that simulates someone typing.

Fun fact

The timelines of this game and 2022’s Do You Really Want to Know overlap, and both stories unfold simultaneously. In the first game, you play as Nick’s co-worker, who is also living with HIV, and see how colleagues react to his status.

Meet the creator

Taipei’s Gamtropy was founded in 2017 by three college classmates. To create this series, they teamed up with the Taiwan AIDS Society, whose approachable educational materials are featured throughout the social posts in both games.