In the cold winter of 1982 the nation of ‘Arstotzka’ and you are one of the lucky few to win a job working for the government as an Immigrations Clerk. You call up people to the desk and greet them with ‘Papers, please.’ The travelers hands you their passport, which you inspect with a daily set of rules that only grow more complex and apply either the stamp of approval or denial managing the dreams of 8 bit characters in the rubber and ink on your desk. Like your job in the real world each day brings new rules and procedures you need to follow. Challenge you to find a balance between financial opportunities and moral dilemmas. But amongst all this the only thing that is of utmost importance is your family whose well-being is the prime motivator for your actions.
Stop (or profit off) your border's contraband!
BLG writes: "Dystopian games are more relevant than ever in a day and age when the world seems to be getting progressively bleaker with each passing year. But dystopian fiction, in general, isn’t trying to make us depressed by showing us how much worse things could get. Rather, the point is (usually) to serve as a cautionary tale, and there’s perhaps no tale more cautionary than George Orwell’s 1984."
A game that should absolutely be on this list is Disco Elysium. That game is wildly deep in the field of its take on social issues, politics, religion, morality, and the internal struggles of the human psyche.
Still haven't finished it but Disco Elysium is really great. I love the dark sense of humour.
I love dystopian settings in general. We happy few is an excellent game. It is basically a mash up of 1984 and the other dystopian classic Brave New World. The drug 'Joy' is essentially 'Soma' from Aldous Huxley's novel.
Orwell was surprisingly engrossing. I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I expected. I bought the sequel on Steam but haven't gotten around to playing it yet.
Don't need a game to experience Orwell. Real life follows it pretty well.
It is not only through paperwork and armed guards that Askrokia maintains its power, but from the way it controls the player’s limited and valuable time.
