Ian Bogost's games often have a serious undertone despite the not-so-serious presentation. It's part of what makes them so popular. His new game, which has been released today, is no different and uses a cartoony style to cover up an attempt to provide a serious examination of obesity in gamers.
Persuasive Games, Ian's studio, has just released FatWorld, a game which Ian describes as "Animal Crossing meets Super Size Me".
"By choosing your character's dietary and exercise habits, you can experiment with the constraints of nutrition and economics as they affect your character's general health...How much can you afford to spend on food, and how does that affect your general health? Characters who eat poorly will get fat. Characters who don't exercise will move around the world more laboriously. Disease and death will eventually ravage players with poor health, while those with good health will live to a ripe age," Ian told Kotaku.
With the USA, UK and Australia all featuring in the Top 30 World's Fattest Countries, its clear that at the very least there is a large proportion of people who could benefit from the ideas put forward in the game.
How healthy do you think you are and how do you think gaming affects your general well-being? Is anybody going to take Fatworld seriously or will it just be buried under a mountain of pies? Let us know what you think in the forums.
Persuasive Games, Ian's studio, has just released FatWorld, a game which Ian describes as "Animal Crossing meets Super Size Me".
"By choosing your character's dietary and exercise habits, you can experiment with the constraints of nutrition and economics as they affect your character's general health...How much can you afford to spend on food, and how does that affect your general health? Characters who eat poorly will get fat. Characters who don't exercise will move around the world more laboriously. Disease and death will eventually ravage players with poor health, while those with good health will live to a ripe age," Ian told Kotaku.
With the USA, UK and Australia all featuring in the Top 30 World's Fattest Countries, its clear that at the very least there is a large proportion of people who could benefit from the ideas put forward in the game.
How healthy do you think you are and how do you think gaming affects your general well-being? Is anybody going to take Fatworld seriously or will it just be buried under a mountain of pies? Let us know what you think in the forums.
RELATED ARTICLES
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review
October 14 2021 | 15:04
Want to comment? Please log in.