This research examines my experiences growing up as a New Zealand-born Chinese kid with immigrant parents. First, through an autoethnographic lens, I examine different parenting techniques and how difficult it was for my parents to raise a Chinese kid in Western culture. Then, to understand these past events, I turn them into a 2D video game.
Immigrant Chinese parents can often share different values with their children, which in turn can cause disagreements and unstable relationships. My experience growing up held many such disagreements and arguments. Diverse parenting styles can alternate depending on their circumstances, with a few styles specific to Chinese culture. The contrasting values between immigrant parents and children stem from these traditional parenting styles conflicting with the child’s expectations.
Therefore, this study focuses on the context of parenting and Chinese culture, implementing the methodology of autoethnography to gain insights into complex events from my childhood and turn those into video games.
To make the game, I used Iterative Design with the Forest Paths Narrative Design method to produce the narrative. Autoethnography bridges this research and my New Zealand-Chinese experiences and helps me turn my past into a video game medium to create an interactive, empathic journey.
Reflecting on my experiences with Chinese culture and applying these findings to a video game, I could better understand my parent, especially my mother. My relationship with them had since improved, as I learnt that they only take their actions based on their own perspective of correct parenting and that my anger was misplaced when I was younger.
