Facebook games tend to end up in the growing pile of cultural detritus, along with reality TV and tweeting congressmen. Usually, they involve coercing one’s friends to join in silly, virtual undertakings like farming pixilated cows or putting hits on badly animated mobsters. America 2049, released in April, is a stark exception: Start playing, and a stern-looking Victor Garber, best known for his work as CIA spy Jack Bristow on Alias, instructs you to capture a dangerous terrorist. Fail, Garber warns you, and a plague might destroy America. Or what’s left of it: These United States aren’t so united in 2049. They have turned into a string of loosely affiliated entities, bound together by fear, hate, and disease.
The game’s dark, dystopian tenor and its plethora of stars—Lost’s Harold Perrineau plays the terrorist, comedian Margaret Cho and former 24 president Cherry Jones also play supporting parts—aren’t the only things setting America 2049 apart. Created by the human rights group Breakthrough, the game was designed to raise awareness for an array of social-justice issues, from immigration to racism. Clicking on a grid representing realistic maps of major American cities, the player uncovers videos, encrypted notes, newspaper clippings, and other information relevant to the mystery at hand. As is the case with every worthwhile game, the clock ticks here, too, urging the player not only to find the alleged terrorist but also to decide whether it is the fugitive or the federal government he should fear.