Land Invaders

Modelled on the classic arcade game Space Invaders, this experimental 8-bit video game installation captures the nostalgic feel of classic gaming while imagining an alternate history: instead of fending off space aliens descending onto planet Earth, the players have to keep Columbus’s ships – the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria – from reaching the shores of Turtle Island. Developed by Juan Mateo Menendez and Cassandra Gardiner of Bird x Bird, the project became unexpectedly cathartic for creator Gardiner, of the Anishinaabe Algonquin people, offering a way to symbolically confront the historical forces that caused profound harm to her people and communities. Through its gameplay, Land Invaders explores the potential of interactive media as a tool for reflection and healing, providing players a space to engage with intergenerational trauma and, in a subtle way, reprogramme new neural pathways towards understanding and empowerment.