What's this? A game all about social media? Looks innocent enough, right? Don't give in to first impressions though, this isn't a game for the faint of heart. You start by observing the world of circle and square-headed people, and take pictures of their interactions and goings on. Your pictures then become the focus of their world, and influence their behavior. How bad can things get...?
Turns out pretty bad. Nicky Case serves up some intense foreboding with We Become What We Behold. A game with a hidden political warning about how social media and the news influences our thoughts, actions, and overall lives: Only big news goes viral, and often times that news is pre-packaged to deliver just part of the whole story. When our only window to the outside world is social media and news, these one-sided stories become all we know, and we in turn base our thoughts and actions on what we know. In the end, We Become What We Behold.
AwesomeAndreas didn't make this. This is a Nicky Case creation.
I get it, and it's a cool idea, but it's a little too manipulative for my taste. As on social media, I don't want to be forced to choose the craziness. It seems there could have been some though given to people not wanting to be herded to the game's conclusion.
AwesomeAndreas was the username on Newgrounds...
You aren't "forced" to choose the craziness, you can choose to focus on other things. But if you take pictures of various other events, you get messages like
Who tunes into "people get along"?
and
Peace is boring. Violence goes viral
. This is exactly how social media and news works, and is the focus and message of the game. Its not about trying to change the outcome, it's a warning about reality
My goal was to click the cricket!
Then I got 3 more crickets!
Then I got too many crickets!
gg
Update