This is a visual novel-like game where your only interaction is collecting chunks of data via drag-and-drop, as you are working for ORWELL, a new and secret database and tool that lets you thoroughly spy on every person the government deems dangerous.
As the name indicates, the game’s story deals with topics like information control, an authoritarian government, freedom of thought etc. It especially highlights the dangers of taking information out of context, evaluating people with that information, and it questions the integrity of the one collecting it. Based on the data you feed ORWELL with, the story can go slightly different ways and you can also choose between different endings. The gameplay, while minimal, is fun and engaging throughout the short span of the game - which is ca. 5 hours - and helped by the clean UI that acts as if you were on your in-game work PC. Regardless, there are sometimes arbitrary limits and annoying situations regarding the data you can/can’t/must use to advance the plot.
The story, while interesting, doesn’t have much to tell or add to the topics listed above that hasn’t been discussed before, but it does raise awareness of what a bad government (or any government) with total surveillance can do. As the player is in control of the information, and therefore in shaping the 'truth', their morals is what all this depends on, but in the end this isn’t a really eye-opening personal experience. For me it feels more like a role-playing game:
Do you play as the bad or good guy, do you blindly follow orders or act according to your conscience? Either way, it’s fun, but not as thought-provoking as it’s probably supposed to be.
As the name indicates, the game’s story deals with topics like information control, an authoritarian government, freedom of thought etc. It especially highlights the dangers of taking information out of context, evaluating people with that information, and it questions the integrity of the one collecting it. Based on the data you feed ORWELL with, the story can go slightly different ways and you can also choose between different endings. The gameplay, while minimal, is fun and engaging throughout the short span of the game - which is ca. 5 hours - and helped by the clean UI that acts as if you were on your in-game work PC. Regardless, there are sometimes arbitrary limits and annoying situations regarding the data you can/can’t/must use to advance the plot.
The story, while interesting, doesn’t have much to tell or add to the topics listed above that hasn’t been discussed before, but it does raise awareness of what a bad government (or any government) with total surveillance can do. As the player is in control of the information, and therefore in shaping the 'truth', their morals is what all this depends on, but in the end this isn’t a really eye-opening personal experience. For me it feels more like a role-playing game:
Do you play as the bad or good guy, do you blindly follow orders or act according to your conscience? Either way, it’s fun, but not as thought-provoking as it’s probably supposed to be.