Teenagers Are Rediscovering an Old Game About Authoritarianism(clivethompson.medium.com)
clivethompson.medium.com
Teenagers Are Rediscovering an Old Game About Authoritarianism
https://clivethompson.medium.com/how-teenagers-are-rediscovering-an-old-game-about-authoritarianism-8346d7b7c295
29 comments
This is the first post that I've had a genuine 'I'm getting old' reaction to.. I was in middle school when Papers Please released and it was huge among indie game fans. I remember like it was yesterday, Yahtzee Croshaw and TotalBiscuit giving it glowing reviews... Please nobody tell me that Yeezus isn't the new Kanye album...
>> This is the first post that I've had a genuine 'I'm getting old' reaction to..
You're one of today's unlucky 10,000.
You're one of today's unlucky 10,000.
Damn, the kind of progress we saw in games just 10 years ago has really stopped hasn’t it?
> Minecraft is from 2009.
Counterpoint: Minecraft got a major update last month and there's another one coming ~December. It might have been created many years ago but it's definitely not an "old game".
Don't play the other two but IIRC GTAV Online is still getting updates?
Counterpoint: Minecraft got a major update last month and there's another one coming ~December. It might have been created many years ago but it's definitely not an "old game".
Don't play the other two but IIRC GTAV Online is still getting updates?
To be fair, in 1990 a game made in 1982 was positively ancient...
Yes, they are old. WoW came out in 2005 and is old enough to be classic.
Right, but that's 16 years ago - twice as long - so it doesn't really establish anything.
>It came out in 2013 and never had a huge player-base, nor any big advertising to keep it alive
It sold almost 2 million copies and won numerous awards...
It sold almost 2 million copies and won numerous awards...
Even so, "to keep it alive" seems like a non issue for a single player game a few hours long.
> George Orwell’s 1984...wasn’t on our school’s reading list.
This seems to be common, and is crazy. It’s perfect for high schoolers.
My kid had to campaign to get it added back to his school curriculum.
This seems to be common, and is crazy. It’s perfect for high schoolers.
My kid had to campaign to get it added back to his school curriculum.
Probably because of the sexual content.
IIRC Animal Farm was suggested to us, but not 1984.
IIRC Animal Farm was suggested to us, but not 1984.
Old game from 2013, old.
"Old" could be some 1993 game in 2001. But today games didn' t make a radical change as they did from Doom and Ultima VII to Max Payne and GTA3.
"Old" could be some 1993 game in 2001. But today games didn' t make a radical change as they did from Doom and Ultima VII to Max Payne and GTA3.
Based on the title, I expected this to be a game from the 50s or earlier, not 2013.
Papers, Please is a great game, but not great social critique. It's a good example of how it's limited what games can teach you about the real world, how a game can have a strong "feel" without necessarily having much authentic about it, and maybe how it can make people feel they understand something, while at best they understand what the author thinks.
Lots of people speak as if the game is somehow "realistic" about living in authoritarian states. But it's a complete mishmash of totalitarian tropes.
Most obviously, you are a border official being oppressive to people who want to come into your country. To work, mostly.
Generally speaking, people do not strive to get into authoritarian countries to work. This was certainly not a common problem east bloc countries in Europe (whose aesthetic Papers, Please otherwise obviously tries to channel). True, some were a bit freer and richer than others, but then you, as a citizen of the less free countries, probably couldn't just go work there on your own initiative. Planned economies generally don't let you!
Speaking of that, that's another jarring thing: you, a government official in a role vulnerable to corruption and worse, got it on short notice via a lottery. That sounds... implausible. On one hand, it's very command economy, with the state just commanding you out like a soldier. But giving out trusted, powerful positions in a lottery is decidedly un-command economy, and even un-authoritarian of any sort. You have power over people's lives in "Papers, Please", that's the game's point. But in an authoritarian state, that sort of power is jealously guarded!
And then there's the part about keeping your family from starving, freezing or dying from lack of healthcare, by your 100% performance pay wages. That is decidedly not very command economy. What kind of weird country is this??
The human drama also feels rather misplaced sometimes. There's an early storyline about a pimp and human trafficking. Sex trafficking is another of those things that, if it is a problem in the sort of country that has internal passports, feels like it would take very different forms than flashy private pimps and victims appealing to the border guard for help.
So in short, it's a mishmash of oppressive tropes. If Lucas Pope had wanted to make profound commentary on totalitarian states, he would probably have been a lot more bothered about these inconsistencies. So I'm assuming that wasn't his goal. Which is fine. It IS a great game, mechanically and mood wise.
Lots of people speak as if the game is somehow "realistic" about living in authoritarian states. But it's a complete mishmash of totalitarian tropes.
Most obviously, you are a border official being oppressive to people who want to come into your country. To work, mostly.
Generally speaking, people do not strive to get into authoritarian countries to work. This was certainly not a common problem east bloc countries in Europe (whose aesthetic Papers, Please otherwise obviously tries to channel). True, some were a bit freer and richer than others, but then you, as a citizen of the less free countries, probably couldn't just go work there on your own initiative. Planned economies generally don't let you!
Speaking of that, that's another jarring thing: you, a government official in a role vulnerable to corruption and worse, got it on short notice via a lottery. That sounds... implausible. On one hand, it's very command economy, with the state just commanding you out like a soldier. But giving out trusted, powerful positions in a lottery is decidedly un-command economy, and even un-authoritarian of any sort. You have power over people's lives in "Papers, Please", that's the game's point. But in an authoritarian state, that sort of power is jealously guarded!
And then there's the part about keeping your family from starving, freezing or dying from lack of healthcare, by your 100% performance pay wages. That is decidedly not very command economy. What kind of weird country is this??
The human drama also feels rather misplaced sometimes. There's an early storyline about a pimp and human trafficking. Sex trafficking is another of those things that, if it is a problem in the sort of country that has internal passports, feels like it would take very different forms than flashy private pimps and victims appealing to the border guard for help.
So in short, it's a mishmash of oppressive tropes. If Lucas Pope had wanted to make profound commentary on totalitarian states, he would probably have been a lot more bothered about these inconsistencies. So I'm assuming that wasn't his goal. Which is fine. It IS a great game, mechanically and mood wise.
A game from 2013 isn’t old, right?
…
…right?!
Hidden Agenda is an older, better game about authoritarianism.
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Hidden_Agenda_1988
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Hidden_Agenda_1988
Papers, Please
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papers,_Please
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papers,_Please
[deleted]
It's not a game about Authoritarianism.
You're right, it's not. It's been about 7 years since I played it, but I remember it being about how complicated it is to have power over people, and how you can't avoid compromising when you have competing responsibilities. It's set in an authoritarian state, but it's not about authoritarianism: you could set the same game in a lemonade stand, or a baseball team. It's just that having that role in that context really hammers the point home.
What do you suggest that it’s about then?
Well I think it's about authoritarianism too, but to be charitable to the parent you could argue it's much more a game about poverty, suffering, and the impersonality of evil.
It sounds like this is a game about bureaucracy, and not so-called "authoritarianism." Suspect the author has an ideological agenda.
From the Steam blurb:
> The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.
Sounds pretty low on individual freedom to me.
> The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.
Sounds pretty low on individual freedom to me.
Yes, an anti-authoritarian agenda.
Grand Theft Auto V also came out in 2013. Minecraft is from 2009. CS GO is from 2012 but is very alike the original from 2000. All of those are still some of the biggest games today I believe.