The Entropy Cage

Entropy Cage is one of those games where I thought the app I had downloaded onto my old nook had glitched, because within seconds of starting, some numerical address said it needed to be reseeded. I thought the android app's random number generator was glitching.

Welcome to Entropy Cage. The game involves you, a robopsychologist who must diagnose issues with AI's that are supposed to be running the world.

The game gets more interesting the further you progress, and some reviewers have noted the game's ability to avoid common cliches. However, it gets monotonous at points, as you diagnose dozens of robot clients in rapid succession (each with a single click).

This game was well-received in the 2014 IFComp, coming in 14th out of 40 something in a competition that traditionally favors parser games (which require text input). I'd look forward to another game by this author.

Note: This review is for the post-comp release. The change log refers to it as v101, and I recommend playing this version.

Modern society is run by sub-sentient computer programs known as “subs.” You work as a cyberpsychiatrist where you assist and discipline these subs when they run into problems. One night, you are awakened by an emergency: the subs are misbehaving.

And society will come crashing down if you don’t resolve it.

Gameplay
The Entropy Cage is centered around investigating the subs’ odd behavior before shifting to (Spoiler - click to show)aligning with one of the factions from the story.

Gameplay consists of the player receiving requests from subs and deciding on what action to take. Initially, the only action available is “reseed,” but more options become available as the situation develops.

b91: Hello. My program is stuck. Reseed me.

user> sub.reseed() | sub.queryRequest()

Players may find it a bit ambiguous. We’re supposed to “find out what happened,” and yet, it's unclear what your immediate objective is. It’s hard to tell if you’re doing anything right because we always get Jake’s disapproval, though I understand that might be so we can feel the protagonist’s frustration for ourselves. That doesn’t make it less confusing.

Reseed the subs? He complains. Freeze the subs? He complains. Promote the subs? He complains. Each time he complains that we should “try something else,” and the player is staring at the screen thinking, there aren’t any other links to click on!

Allowing the player to save their progress would have been appreciated or at least have a way for the player to skip to later content after their first playthrough. If you're not careful, you click on a link that, woops, turns out to be an ending.

I nearly gave up hope on understanding what I was doing when I froze/promoted/etc. this endless parade of faulty subs. Gradually, things came into focus.

user> sub.promote()

SYSTEM: REDIRECTED sub.promote() -> sub.kill()
bb1: Why? Query Why?
bb1: Query Why? Use? Hello?

In this example, a sub requested that I promote it. And I did: "sub.promote." Some (Spoiler - click to show)unknown agent changed sub.promote to sub.kill, killing the sub instead of promoting it. The poor sub is wondering why this is happening.

So: My advice for playing The Entropy Cage is to stick with it.

Even when you have no idea what’s going on, you can still have fun.

Versions
Out of curiosity, I tried the competition version and could see a clear difference. I like how the newer version uses “reseed” instead of “punish,” which feels more intuitive (and not so mean). Consider:

b78: Hello. I have been bad. Punish me. vs.

f71: Hello. My program is stuck. Reseed me.

I wonder how previous players will feel about the game now.

Story
Before you play, I highly encourage you to read the backstory which can be accessed via the game’s menu. It provides essential context to understanding the story. Without it, I would not have been able to piece together the overarching premise on my own.

It’s quite intriguing!

The author shares that the game “came from wondering what religions computers would create for themselves,” which raises concern of what would happen if said computers started to engage in religious warfare. The aim of The Entropy Cage is to consider humanity’s role as an observer of this theoretical warfare, and this is reflected in the protagonist’s task at investigating the subs’ erratic behavior.

Endings
I thought there were only 2-3 endings until I looked at the ending guide built into the game. The guide summarizes each ending regardless of if you’ve reached it. Turns out, there are 9 possible outcomes. Reaching them was another matter…

Thoughts
Ending 1 serves as a potential warning for our current world and the near future. Technically mild spoilers, so I’ll put them under a spoiler tag.

This theme of over-reliance is increasingly relevant to the technologies that have emerged in recent years which will only continue to be developed.

Characters
We know little about the game’s protagonist beyond their job title and their employer: a corporation called Cloud-Nine. Or is it an agency? Either way, its specialty is transportation. You definitely want your subs to function correctly for that.

Apparently, we've also been “suspended.” The game doesn’t say why, and I would be fine with this if Jake didn’t bring it up ALL THE TIME. He keeps waving your suspension around and threatening you to the point where I want to know why the protagonist is on thin ice. Or is Cloud-Nine just looking to cut costs?

At least some of our exchanges with him can be humorous.

SYSTEM:CHAT@jake: And what checks that blood?
SYSTEM:CHAT@user: A pre-sub. Damn. That guy had one job.

There are NPCs who play a big role behind the scenes, but A, I don’t want to spoil them, and B, I’m still a bit confused about who they are aside from the fact that they are (Spoiler - click to show)subs of religious factions.

Visuals
Taking after the cover art, The Entropy Cage uses blue and black as its main colours. Its appearance is a large dark blue text box against a black screen. Text and links also use different shades of blue.

I have mixed feelings of how some of the dialog is displayed. In these cases, tH3 diAl0G lo0kS liK3 tHIs WhiCH g3tS TeDIus qUIcKlY. This formatting is clever because it conveys that the sub we're chatting with (Spoiler - click to show)is slowly being corrupted. The downside is that it's inconvenient when trying to process what the sub is saying.

Final thoughts
The Entropy Cage feels somewhat like a hidden gem.

I've played games where the source of conflict is heavily based on "A.I. vs. human characters." In The Entropy Cage, the source of conflict is "A.I. vs A.I.," and I don't see this nearly as often. The human protagonist is not an active participant in the (Spoiler - click to show)subs’ warfare, and yet we wield enough power to alter its trajectory.

It’s also frustrating. Even now, I have a hard time understanding it all. While the game’s mechanics emphasizes how the protagonist is working within limitations as they try to resolve a looming crisis, it hinders the player’s enjoyment of story instead of enhancing it.

Still, I liked The Entropy Cage. The game grows on you if you spend enough time experimenting with it.

If you’re looking for a sci-fi game that prefers its mechanics over heavy dialog, The Entropy Cage offers a unique experience. Despite its flaws, it raises questions on morality, technology, and where we stand within it. It was released in 2014, and the author hasn’t created anything since. But if they ever do, I’d be interested.