WITNESS Games is based on the lived experience of Evie Litwok, founder of Witness to Mass Incarceration. At the time of her arrest, she immediately lost friends and family she had known for 45 years. Simply being accused caused many people to move away, leaving her with little support as she endured the horrors of prison and later faced reentry with shockingly few people willing to help.

Prison, jail, and detention centers are places where violence—both physical and sexual—can be common, where extreme weather and lack of medical care put lives at risk, and where a power imbalance between correctional officers and incarcerated people shapes daily survival. In these environments, people must rely on one another and find the strength to endure experiences that leave lasting trauma. Yet when people return home, they are often remembered only for their conviction. Everything else about who they are disappears.

WITNESS Games was created to change that narrative. Through immersive storytelling and interactive gameplay, players are invited to experience the lives of people who have been labeled as criminals. By engaging the public in these deeply human stories, WITNESS Games aims to foster empathy, challenge long-held assumptions, and encourage broader conversations about justice, dignity, and the realities of incarceration.