A game exploring the ramifications of fairness, inequality, and Christmas.
(tried to upload an image, but wordpress says “Failed to write file to disk.”)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x0cntd7qidsuv7x/PrivilegeClausV1-all.zip?dl=0
Programming: Gregory Rose
Art: Joseph Jung
Music: “The Jazz Piano” – http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/jazz
Tim says a few things that I’m pretty sure Santa was supposed to say, but given the weird nature of Ren’Py framework that’s understandable.
The game itself is a bit heavy-handed, but given the time constraint, this is probably the most direct way to get the message across. I like that Santa can’t keep calm with the second kid, though I will say that the ending does feel a bit abrupt. I’m also keen to go a bit further with the “ramifications of fairness, inequality, and Christmas”. This does a good job of introducing those themes, so future time could go into developing them further.
Overall good concept, though it seems like whatever choices you make will lead to the first kid feeling disappointed and the second kid suing you. While this is a direct way to make the point you want to make, it could be interesting to try more subtle approaches to the same narrative. For example, in the first kid scenario, the kid could become really excited about the idea of getting a cool gift rather than disappointed or skeptical. In the end the player knows that the first kid isn’t going to get anything fancy from Santa, so there’s already an implied disappointment that will occur on Christmas for the first kid. The guilt that the player might feel in allowing this kid to become all excited for a gift they will never receive could be in an interesting space to explore.
Sometimes, I just have to wonder, what is the point of Santa Claus and Christmas?
Why do we lie to our children’s faces so frankly every year? Are we afraid of our children knowing the truth about the cruelty of the world, or are we afraid of telling it?
Is Christmas some kind of bribe designed to get children to behave? Children grow up to become adults, and adults are really just grown up children. If the purpose of Christmas is to encourage the spirit of giving, it has become corrupted into nothing more than a capitalist buying frenzy.
There was an issue in the beginning where Santa’s mouth was open but the character name displayed was Tim. The visuals communicate emotion well and contrast well against the busy background. There’s some humor in the interactions with the kids, but I feel like the joke’s been told before. Both kids are shits, so I guess poor people feel just as entitled as rich people? I think this point is more interesting than the humor angle. You could choose to push the narrative in either direction, but it needs to be pushed. Right now it feels like other rich vs poor stories, only here poor is only marginally better than rich (and only because you set me up to feel sorry for that cheap kid and his lack of basic human rights.)
I like the narrative structure and the characters’ expressions. It’s a humorous vignette and I don’t expect more subtlety but I’d have appreciated different possible outcomes.