Castruita Specter, the station communications director, described the game as an “interactive story about enslaved people’s resistance to the system of slavery.”
The Mission US series was developed with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and major funding from Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in 2010 awarded WNET a $3.3 million grant to create and disseminate the games.
The money from the CPB was part of a larger effort to promote greater knowledge of American history and civics among students by using technology to deliver engaging content, said Michael Levy, the organization’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer.
Of the CPB’s total grant to WNET, $786,163 went to the development of Flight to Freedom, Levy said in an interview.
“For three years, this game has received nothing but uniform high praise,” he said. “We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”