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Writer's pictureCatherine An

Peace is boring. Violence goes viral.

Even though it was such a short game, We Become What We Behold really stood out to me in many ways First, the strictness of the mechanic of how to advance or move forward in the game. When I was intrigued by how the circle-square couple got along with the "crazed square," and tried to capture the moment, the game itself rejected my observation. While it was something I found interesting in the screen, the game reminded me "Peace is boring. Violence goes viral." Already guided by the mechanic of "you have to catch them doing *something* interesting," I as the player was led to focus on the hostility that eventually unfolded between individuals.


Another thing to note is how the wide perspective visually encourages players to identify the peculiar behaviors of one or few, complementing our preexisting instinct to notice the odd one out. Even during the gameplay, the events that caught my attention were the actions of one or two individuals which differed from the rest, much like how the news tends to report the anomaly rather than the norm. The normal behaviors tend to become background and ignored, while the particular actions of a few are more noticeable because they are so different from the rest. The game then offers a "reward" by allowing you to advance further when you capture these anomalies. In a way, media coverage on these particular cases draw more attention from the audience and seem to parallel a "reward" mechanism.


Another thing that was striking about the game was how quickly and easily fear and anger spread through the news. During the chaos, the player can point and click pretty much anywhere on the screen and the news will relay the same message "BE ANGRY. BE SCARED." While the initial build up to the ultimate conflict required the correct timing of capturing specific moments, when the rampage begins, the media fed on the anger and fear that was amongst the squares and the circles. This both highlights how fear and anger makes audiences more prone to media influence as well as how the media utilizes these emotions to solicit greater influence over the public.

Even though the player could only point and click in the game, we were able to do a lot of damage to the virtual community on the screen. This aspect of the game also echoes the power of media today. A few incriminating photos is enough to leave a tarnish on someone's career. Nicky Case ends the game with a meta-moment where the player confronts their own position behind the computer screen. The zooming out of the game perspective into a computer suggests our own involvement in spreading false media and framing particular narratives, as well as points to our own involvement behind a computer screen absorbing misinformation. While it was just a 5 minute game, the experience manages to left me with a strong impression that will continue to engage me for a while.

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Daniel Stein
Daniel Stein
17 nov 2019

the game is very poignant in it's message that "Peace is boring. Violence goes viral." The mechanics you described of being able to identify differences in the population in order to advance the game and the differences eventually resulting in mass violence make the progression easy and simple for the player. However, I think the game is a little over zealous in its message and implementation. Occasionally the player can identify positive behavior that stands out from the general population, but clicking on them results in a reminder that only violence is notable, even though they are indistinguishable in the game

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Irene Li
17 nov 2019

Along the line of identifying individual anomalies, there was this one detail in the game that I notices. When squares and circles started to hate each other, there came a square and circle couple, and they tried to persuade others that love between different groups should be accepted and embraced. When I tried to report that, the game would not let me and told me something like “peace is boring” etc. Even though the couple's action was an anomaly given the circumstances, it did not serve to provoke further conflict and violence, so they are "useless" for us players. But they no doubt told me something about this game itself. Details like this do not contribute to the plot advancement…

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ihna
ihna
17 nov 2019

The mention of the game insisting that the player find something "interesting" aka something not peaceful, makes me recall when I first played the game I merely tried to attempt photographing whatever discrepancy I immediately spotted, and of course the game roasted me because apparently peace is boring. My immediate reaction was... comedic(?) indignation like a second grader because "hey, some peaceful things are fun! what about cute viral animal videos!!!" but the game does bring to light the morbid fascination people tend to harbor over violence and the fact that they're willing to put away their empathy to indulge in the suffering of others as long as they're not directly engaged in the action.

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