Navigating the American Healthcare System is a satirical board game that critiques the structural corruption and systemic imbalance within the United States healthcare industry. Inspired by South Park: The End of Obesity, the project uses dark humor and exaggeration to reflect the real experiences of patients navigating medical bureaucracy, insurance providers, and pharmaceutical interests.

    The game is intentionally designed to be stacked against the patient players. While players attempt to manage illness, finances, and access to care, the system itself is built to win through escalating costs, denial of coverage, and exploitative mechanics. By removing the possibility of a true patient victory, the game mirrors the reality that many Americans face, where profit driven institutions consistently outweigh individual health needs. Navigating the American Healthcare System functions both as a playable experience and as a critical commentary, using game design to expose how illness is often monetized and how power is systematically taken away from those who need care the most.

    The development of Navigating the American Healthcare System began with an analysis of existing board game structures, using Monopoly Junior as a foundational reference point. Its familiar mechanics provided an accessible entry for players, allowing the focus to shift toward commentary rather than rule learning. While the core structure remains recognizable, the mechanics were deliberately altered to reflect the imbalance of power within the healthcare industry, making it nearly impossible for any player to win except the one representing the system itself.

    New gameplay elements were introduced to reinforce this critique, including insurance policies, malpractice lawsuits, and bank bailouts that exclusively benefit the system player. These mechanics were designed to escalate financial pressure on patient players while continually protecting institutional power. Extensive play testing was required to strike a balance between frustration and engagement, ensuring the game remained playable and engaging while still clearly communicating its critical message. The goal was to create an experience that felt unfair by design, mirroring real world patient experiences without completely alienating the player.

    Once the mechanics were finalized, the project transitioned into a full visual and material redesign. Game components were reimagined to reflect player roles and systemic dynamics, with custom models such as a bag of money, a stethoscope, and other symbolic objects representing wealth, care, and control. Chance cards were rewritten to directly reference healthcare specific scenarios, reframing familiar moments of luck into commentaries on debt, denial, and institutional advantage. The game board and overall aesthetic were completely redesigned to support the narrative and tone of the project.

    After completing the design phase, the final step was fabrication. All components were produced and assembled into a fully playable board game. This included refining physical elements, ensuring durability, and testing the final version as a cohesive system. The completed game functions both as an interactive object and as a critical design artifact, using play as a tool to expose systemic inequality and challenge assumptions about fairness within the American healthcare system.