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Review
You are concerned about THE ENVIRONMENT, and want to do your part!
Individual Action Simulator is a brief Ink game that considers the impact an individual can make when trying to live more sustainably. Save the Earth one step at a time!
Gameplay is organized into days, and each day the player chooses an action from a list.
DAY 1
You decide to...
[Conserve electricity.]
[Take public transit to work.]
[Recycle.]
Points are awarded accordingly and indicate the difference you’ve made.
You gain 1 point(s)! Good job!
Later, this shifts to actions like donating to charity or switching to metal straws.
It doesn’t take long to realize that the game is a lesson in futility. Every few days, a random human-caused event occurs, harming the environment and overshadowing our progress.
Government environmental protection regulations were relaxed again after extensive lobbying.
You lose 1000000 point(s)...
By illustrating this imbalance of positive/negative impact, the point system highlights an important truth: As long as governments and corporations exploit the environment in drastic ways, recycling and going vegan, while sustainable, will not save the planet in the long term.
From here, the game loses traction. The only option we have is “protest.” Meanwhile, the point system falls apart.
You gain 1 point(s)
You gain 0 point(s)
You gain -1 point(s)
Next thing we know, the game is using random values like “??? points” or “0.5 points” that make no sense. The game then asks if we want to quit. Otherwise, we protest until the Earth is destroyed. I suppose the game is trying to send a message about the limitations of protest when saving the environment. However, this part of the gameplay is too sloppy and devoid of context for this message to have any platform to stand on.
Whether you choose to quit or protest until the Earth’s destroyed, a surprising twist is revealed: (Spoiler - click to show)Individual Action Simulator is a game within a game.
(Spoiler - click to show)The entire time, we’ve been playing as a character named Wei and hanging out with some friends and the game’s author, Noor. Having now played it, we’re asked about our thoughts on the game and its ideas. What follows is a short conversational segment where we choose responses to Noor’s questions. Then, everyone agrees to go get free trade coffee, and Individual Action Simulator ends for real.
The game is considerably stronger with this hidden twist at the end because it takes a self-reflective approach to the game’s content and has a more polished appearance. However, while the simulation’s crudeness is meant to reflect the fact that Noor created it on a whim, it still could have been more developed. The final product is a poorly implemented game that detracts from its own message-sharing potential.
Note on visuals: At first, I thought this was a Twine game. Turns out, it’s made with Ink. It uses a black screen, white text, and blue links, except for the (Spoiler - click to show)twist at the end which opts for a light grey screen, colour-coded character names, and cleaner formatting. This sudden change in appearance contributes to the player’s surprise at discovering the true nature of the game.
To conclude, Individual Action Simulator has the right idea but misses the mark in its overall execution. I’m glad that it challenges the view that recycling and other sustainable practices will not offset the ongoing destruction that humanity inflicts on the environment. Sustainable efforts must occur at both the individual and organizational level.
Unfortunately, the potency of this message is diminished by the sparse and sloppy gameplay implementation. The (Spoiler - click to show)twist at the end helps but is not enough to save the entire game. That said, if the author were to revisit this topic in a future game, I’d be interested.
