#resistjam

Hey there! How’s it going?

Since we last wrote to you all, our team has really been all over. We’ve been to GDC, PAX East, and SXSW. What a month! We had so much fun meeting you all. Now that all that’s done, we’re all back on our computers and working hard. What have we been up to, you ask?

We’ve also just updated a new patch to 2064: Read Only Memories. We’re now up to v64.0.5, hurray! It fixes a bug where you would get stuck during a conversation in Chapter 6, a bug with LIPS//Live when using the Headphones, and descriptives now properly show up on PS4. It’s the most stable and best version yet -- so now is a great time to jump in if you haven’t already!

We’re still looking to make things better though, so if you find anything that’s not working don’t hesitate to reach out! You can always email us bugs at [email protected]

Speaking of 2064, our company bear cub Philip Jones made a Twine game called “PUNKS: A 2064 Sidestory” starring Starfucker and Oliver for #ResistJam. It takes place in the Read Only Memories universe during chapter one of the main story. “PUNKS” is really fun and local Swiss good boy Ropnolc is behind the music, a few chiptune covers of 2064 songs! You can check out the game itself over on Itch, and the soundtrack is up on Soundcloud.

Oh, and one more thing: We had so much fun doing Ask Day over here that we’re going to do an official AMA over on Reddit! We’re going to do that on March 30th, so get your questions ready and mark your calendars. More details coming soon!

ROLE FOR RESISTANCE

Darkness has overtaken the land.

What role will you play?

by Robert Fenner

E3 is a crass and vulgar spectacle.

Within the hallowed halls of the Los Angeles Convention Centre, large video game publishers compete to build the most elaborate fetishes to capitalism. Perhaps most notably, Nintendo built a beautiful, gleaming simulacrum of a utopic metropolitan city centre, all the while a not-insignificant population of minority homeless camped outside, dressed in rags and sleeping on broken mattresses in the 90 degree+ heat. The juxtaposition of the two in such close proximity was eye-opening, to say the least.

Despite this, it wasn't all quite so stomach-turning. Tucked away from the more flagrant displays sat the IndieCade Megabooth, a humble display boasting a DIY aesthetic that managed to fit over a dozen playable games within half the amount of space that Bethesda used to showcase a non-interactive trailer for The Evil Within 2. It was here that I played andyman404's The Cat in the Hijab, a short narrative experience made for #ResistJam.

The game puts you in the hijab of the titular cat, a Muslim feline lady riding the subway following the election of a right-wing reactionary politician. Many of hte other commuters won't pay you any mind, but you soon find yourself accosted by a racist who dubs you a terrorist and demands you get out of "their" country.

You're given a range of options of how to respond, ala a LucasArts adventure, which run the spectrum from polite reasoning, to telling your aggressor in no uncertain terms to go fuck themselves. However the interaction is resolved, you are then free to continue to wander the subway car, looking for a seat or interacting with others. You may run into a good-hearted, but misguided soul who tells you that you don't have to wear an "oppressive" headpiece in a "civilized" country--you can choose to react with scorn, or try to educate them that your choice to wear the hijab is an exercise of your own agency and freedom.

My playthrough of The Cat in the Hijab ended when I bore witness to another cat, who happened to be a trans woman, on the receiving end of harassment. I could ignore the exchange, take advantage of the situation and become an oppressor myself, or sit with the victim and speak directly to them. Lacking the heart to take the former two options, I sat with the cat and together we ignored the bigot, chatting about movies (a recognized and recommended tactic to shut down overt public bigotry). When the cat's stop arrived, I accompanied her off the train just in case her oppressor tried to follow.

And that was the end of the game. All in all, I found it to be a cathartic and sweet experience, as well as an educational one. It teaches valuable techniques on how to be an ally when witnessing abuse, and also highlights how absurd bigotry is against anyone from a different background, whether it be religious, racial or gendered. It may be sound a little heavy-handed, and maybe it is, but desperate times call for loud and clear messages of positivity and allyship like those found in The Cat in the Hijab. I truly appreciated the game's presence as a port in the largely violent storm that was the rest of E3.

play

Decode radio broadcasts from an unknown source

Wave-matching puzzle gameplay

Sci-fi short story about the consequences of alternative facts and strong, widespread belief in falsehoods

Full voiceover

Let’s Play video:

Tech Valley Game Space (part 1, part 2)

Sketched out but unfinished for Global Game Jam 2017 (Waves), finished for Resist Jam

Solo development