Fundav's prison game workshops turned four computers into a path to work

Argentina's federal prisons had long limited inmates' access to technology-based recreation and education. The system forbade cellphones, made internet permits difficult, and treated unfamiliar software as a security concern; the organizers also had to teach students with low literacy and very limited budgets.

Mishka Palacios De Caro, a game designer and president of the Fundav video-game cooperative, chose a small, negotiable operating model. After months of work alongside organizations already entering prisons, the team secured two hours a week for small groups, installed four computers in a cell, and adapted the classroom to approved tools such as Construct, Fruity Loops, and Twine.

Over roughly two years, the workshop operated in three prison units, where dozens of men and women learned storytelling, programming, and sound design. Students released many games, including Marcolandia, El sicario, and Nascar; the projects gave participants a creative identity beyond being inmates, while De Caro began talking with gaming studios about work after release.

The program reached three prison units and released many student-made games, while Fundav opened talks with gaming studios about post-release work.

Small groups and a two-hour weekly schedule made the request compatible with prison access and security limits.

User-friendly, recognizable tools lowered the authorities' resistance to software they had never heard of.

Treating game creation as a portfolio-producing skill connected education to the students' post-release employment concern.

The team worked with existing prison organizations, turning institutional access into a coalition problem rather than a solo negotiation.

A constrained institution can accept a novel program when the organizer wins narrow permission, adapts the toolchain to security and literacy limits, and lets participants produce visible work.

The program continued across three prison units and produced more games beyond its initial prison-centered stories. De Caro was in talks with gaming studios to help students find work after release, but the material does not report actual post-release employment; officials were still weighing the workshops' educational value against security concerns.