Strictly Business

Artist: Evan Greenwood, Luc Wolthers, Jason Sutherland

Title: Eat The Rich

Statement:

“Gather a mob and score massive savings! The more you save the happier you will be!”

The game is as yet unfinished, but this demo should give a sense of where things are headed.

Origin: South Africa/Thailand

Year: 2019

Artist: Torfi Ásgeirsson

Title:  A Firm Handshake

Statement: I don’t really know what this game is about other than it’s funny to watch these little guys walk around. I suppose part of it is about social anxiety. Maybe part of it is also about the absurdity of the rituals that surround social interaction, especially in formal settings. Part of it is definitely about the sheer panic and desperation of discovering that you are no longer a part of the group. Someone more articulate than me could explain how that mirrors capitalism and its treatment of those who aren’t willing or able to submit to the group. That’s not necessarily what I was thinking about when I made the game but I’m happy that some people saw something there that made it worth including in an anticapitalist context.

Origin: Iceland

Year: 2021

Artist: Molleindustria

Title:  Democratic Socialism Simulator

Statement:

Pave the road to a post-capitalist society!
The Democratic Socialism Simulator lets you play as the first socialist president of the United States.
Can you redistribute power and wealth while addressing the climate crisis?
Enact radical reforms, tax the rich, transform the economy, tackle the most pressing issues without alienating voters or bankrupting the government. But beware: the ruling class won’t give up its power easily. Even your closest allies may turn on you.

The Democratic Socialism Simulator is an attempt to prefigure the opportunities and challenges of a Sanders (or Sanders-like) presidency. It’s by no means a serious simulation, but is based on extensive research on viable policies, and on the history of social-democracies.
This game aims to go beyond the personal attacks and bad faith analysis of the electoral cycle and focus on what can be concretely done once in power. The Democratic Socialism Simulator is meant to entertain, enrage, provoke socialist-curious players as well as comrades on the front lines of the political revolution.

Origin: USA

Year: 2020

Artist: Jane Friedhoff (game design and code), Marlowe Dobbe (art and animation), Andy Wallace (procedural level generation), Streepthroat (music)

Title:  Lost Wage Rampage

Statement: Lost Wage Rampage is a fast, raucous arcade driving game about what happens when two shopgirls find out their male coworkers have been paid more than them, and decide to steal back the difference. It’s a cheeky take on the gender pay gap, a satirical game based on the all-too-common female experience of discovering you’re being underpaid and wanting to do something about it. Lost Wage Rampage was made possible by a commission from the Peabody Essex Museum.

Origin: USA

Year: 2018

Artist: Justin Smith

Title:  Risky Bison

Statement: Risky Bison is a frantic game about securing the financial future of a herd of buffaloes. Sell insurance on the high plains! Fight the law! Collect unusual cacti!

Origin: Canada

Year: 2015

Artist: Space Backyard

Title: Statues

Statement: It reads as a folk-tale and sounds like a nursery rhyme. This is the story of a pompous King, so oblivious to the needs of his subjects as to throw a party to keep them calm and obedient. They played Statues all night long. At dawn the King was naked

Origin: Italy

Year: 2017