H1B.Life is a game representing a live simulation of the US H-1B visa system with players living the lives of international students and workers trapped in the H-1B system, whose experiences were directly written into the game.
For Allison Yang, the founder of the video game studio Reality Reload, the H-1B visa process has all the basic elements of a game: time, skill, strategy and a lot of rules, with players having a certain degree of control but other aspects that are pure luck, similar to the roll of dice. The result is a provocative piece of interactive art that feels less like entertainment and more like documentation.
The game's storylines are drawn from around 20 interviews with H-1B applicants. Rather than celebrate the American Dream, H1B.Life embraces its darker aspects. In the game, players succeed by maintaining four core attributes: intelligence, wealth, social support and burnout rate. If any of these run out, it triggers a "roll the dice" feature where different gods decide players' fates.
The game's most biting detail is its cast of characters with godlike power over visa outcomes. One of these characters, known as "orange god," bears a strong resemblance to President Donald Trump. This is not coincidental. The Trump administration's ongoing immigration crackdown has imposed several new rules on the H-1B visa lottery. Under the latest regulations, employers seeking to sponsor an H-1B applicant could be subject to a $100,000 fee, as well as more selection factors, such as salaries, and limitations on visa appointment locations.
The reforms go further than just imposing costs. A new rule replaces the random lottery for selecting visa recipients with a process that gives greater weight to those with higher skills. The new lottery system will incorporate weighted selections based on the Department of Labour wage level for the beneficiary's proposed role. Each SOC code has four wage levels assigned based on the minimum requirements for the position. A higher-level position requiring more experience or education aligning to a higher wage level means more entries in the selection pool, and therefore an estimated increased probability of selection.
These changes come after years of pressure. By FY 2024, the selection rate hit an all-time low of 25%. For context, when the H-1B lottery began in 2007, applicants faced roughly a 57% chance of selection. The system's expansion has made the odds worse, even as demand has intensified.
Software engineer Krish Chowdhary, who immigrated to San Francisco from Canada on a different work visa, said what the game does get right is the way it depicts immigration status as a series of choices. This is the game's crucial insight. Each player decision cascades into unintended consequences. Staying for higher education delays career progression. Taking a lower-paid job increases burnout. The system offers no clear optimal path.
The game's release timing is deliberate. The H-1B system remains controversial, with advocates for skilled immigration arguing that restrictions damage economic competitiveness, while critics worry about labour market effects. H1B.Life aims to show the uncertainty of immigrants trying to keep their visa status. By turning bureaucratic struggle into mechanics, the game forces Australian and American audiences alike to reckon with a system that treats human futures as probabilities in a lottery.